Safai, Uttar Pradesh:
Showered with rose petals at his hometown Safai, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has kept alive speculation that he might withdraw support to the UPA by slamming the ruling Congress once again, saying it is "cheating" the people and taking decisions with elections in mind.
The immediate provocation for Mr Yadav's tirade on Holi seemed to be reports that the UPA government plans to grant special status to Bihar, ruled by Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal-United. "Bihar has been given a package. What about Uttar Pradesh? This is not the Centre's money to give," said Mr Yadav, accusing the Congress of being "clever and cheating people."
Mr Yadav's crucial external support helps prop up the minority government of Manmohan Singh with 22 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Over the last week he has made several statements to indicate that he could be rethinking that support. He has talked about rekindling efforts for a non-Congress, non-BJP Third Front, and even praised BJP partriarch LK Advani much to the discomfiture of partymen and to criticism from the Congress.
Mr Yadav also again hinted at his own ambitions for a larger role in national politics. The Lok Sabha elections, he said, were the "real elections as Delhi means everything... State governments don't mean much. They are like your 'patwari' (revenue official) and the government in Delhi is like your Collector," the SP chief said. He said in next Lok Sabha elections, the SP would play kingmaker and party workers must work hard to ensure that.
His son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was less coy. He told party workers' that their next target should be to see Mr Yadav on the throne in Delhi.
The Congress, which leads the UPA coalition, has lost two important allies in the Trinamool Congress and the DMK, in less than a year. Allies like Mulayam Singh Yadav have given little cause for confidence and as the 2014 general elections near, it is scouting for new partners and has been accused of trying to woo the JD(U), which has been a partner of the BJP in the opposition coalition NDA for many years now. That relationship has been stormy in recent days.
The BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy said described Mr Yadav as "strange" and said UP, the state his party won decisively last year, no longer believes in him. Mr Rudy said he saw Mr Yadav's Safai speech as an SP effort to bargain with the Congress. "On one hand it is calling the Centre cheaters and yet it gives support to them through its 22 MPs," he said.
The immediate provocation for Mr Yadav's tirade on Holi seemed to be reports that the UPA government plans to grant special status to Bihar, ruled by Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal-United. "Bihar has been given a package. What about Uttar Pradesh? This is not the Centre's money to give," said Mr Yadav, accusing the Congress of being "clever and cheating people."
Mr Yadav's crucial external support helps prop up the minority government of Manmohan Singh with 22 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Over the last week he has made several statements to indicate that he could be rethinking that support. He has talked about rekindling efforts for a non-Congress, non-BJP Third Front, and even praised BJP partriarch LK Advani much to the discomfiture of partymen and to criticism from the Congress.
Mr Yadav also again hinted at his own ambitions for a larger role in national politics. The Lok Sabha elections, he said, were the "real elections as Delhi means everything... State governments don't mean much. They are like your 'patwari' (revenue official) and the government in Delhi is like your Collector," the SP chief said. He said in next Lok Sabha elections, the SP would play kingmaker and party workers must work hard to ensure that.
His son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was less coy. He told party workers' that their next target should be to see Mr Yadav on the throne in Delhi.
The Congress, which leads the UPA coalition, has lost two important allies in the Trinamool Congress and the DMK, in less than a year. Allies like Mulayam Singh Yadav have given little cause for confidence and as the 2014 general elections near, it is scouting for new partners and has been accused of trying to woo the JD(U), which has been a partner of the BJP in the opposition coalition NDA for many years now. That relationship has been stormy in recent days.
The BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy said described Mr Yadav as "strange" and said UP, the state his party won decisively last year, no longer believes in him. Mr Rudy said he saw Mr Yadav's Safai speech as an SP effort to bargain with the Congress. "On one hand it is calling the Centre cheaters and yet it gives support to them through its 22 MPs," he said.
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