Lucknow:
His party may be keeping the government from collapsing in Delhi, but that didn't stop Akhilesh Yadav from a blistering attack today on the reforms in retail introduced recently by the Prime Minister.
"The government says FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in retail will help farmers. Is that why everyone is opposing it?" the young chief minister asked acerbically in Lucknow today.
His comments come after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee brought her battle against FDI to Delhi with a large protest yesterday. Ms Banerjee, who pulled out of the ruling coalition over the decision to allow foreign retail super-chains into India, invited Akhilesh's father Mulayam, to join her on stage at a rally in Lucknow on November 17. Akhilesh said today that his father will decide whether that's going to happen.
Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress was the biggest ally of the Congress in the UPA coalition at the Centre. When her Trinamool Congress pulled out, the government was reduced to a minority. Its survival depends heavily on the external support of Mulayam Singh and Mayawati, who together bring 43 Lok Sabha MPs to the table. Yesterday, the DMK, now the second-largest member of the UPA, said that it will support any resolution moved in parliament against FDI - a gesture that would document the opposition of most parties to the government's new policy.
Mulayam Singh has been blatant about his opposition to FDI in retail. He joined Left leaders in a huge strike in Delhi last month to protest against the Centre. But he says that his support to the UPA is based on his commitment to keeping "the communal forces" of the Opposition BJP at bay. In statements designed to unnerve the Congress, he has also said that his party is ready for early elections, and that he intends to explore the setting up of a Third Front- a non-Congress, non-BJP coalition - after the elections are held.
Ms Banerjee said yesterday that she is keen to move a no-confidence vote against the government, and urged parties like Mulayam's to support her. While the government will likely survive a trust vote because neither Mulayam nor Mayawati will abandon it, parties like the BJP and Ms Banerjee want a vote to register the wide opposition to the government's economic reforms.