The mutual admiration of SP and BJP leaders continues to increase even as the ties between the Congress and its ally from UP could take a turn for the worse, courtesy a defiant Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma.
In a rare occasion, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday not only publicly praised lK Advani’s truthfulness but also cited the senior BJP leader’s complaint about increasing corruption in UP to pull up his son and CM Akhilesh Yadav. He asked Akhilesh to put his act together within the next five months.
But at the same time, Mulayam held the Congress — whose Government his party is supporting from outside and bailing it out from one crisis to another — responsible for the growing corruption in the country.
“Advani sahab says UP is in a very bad state and corruption is rampant. Now I have to assess the situation when a senior leader like Advani says such a thing. He never lies. He always speaks the truth, as I have said many times. I’ll go and meet him again,” Yadav said in lucknow in a public rally on the occasion of the 103rd birth anniversary of Ram Manohar lohia.
“Akhilesh, the Government is not run by flexibility, but by (taking) tough stand,” the SP supremo said. He accused Ministers and officers of tarnishing the image of the SP Government by indulging in “sycophancy” and instructed his Chief Minister son to be a strict administrator.
Attacking the Congress, Mulayam alleged that as compared to UP, Delhi experiences 10 times more crime but it is not being discussed. Further, he said, “This (UPA) is a weak Government. The country's borders are not secure”.
Meanwhile, in what could reignite SP’s ire against the Congress and Beni, the Steel Minister hit out at Mulayam, this time accusing him of “busy looking after his own family” and asserting that he “cannot be a real samajwadi”.
“Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi were real samajwadis,” he said.
He struck a defiant note and launched another veiled attack on Mulayam saying: “I won't bend before pressure politics. Some people are dreaming of becoming the PM after winning 60 seats.”
Verma's comments earlier alleging Mulayam was taking “commission” to support the UPA Government and had “links with terrorists” had precipitated a crisis - as it came even as the Congress was grappling with the DMK's pullout move. The SP upped the ante by demanding his sacking from the Manmohan Singh dispensation. It even did not heed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's request not to press for his resignation.
Beni, however, said he won't quit until he made Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister.
It was leader of Opposition in lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who had come out in support of Mulayam, a “respectable MP', in the Parliament and demanded the sacking of Beni from the Cabinet for his “condemnable” remarks. She also demanded handing over the matter to the Committee of Privileges for breach of privilege.
SP was prompt in reciprocating the gesture with its general secretary Ramgopal Yadav calling the former NDA dispensation as “more cohesive” than UPA and terming Atal Bihari Vajpayee's style of functioning better. “Other leaders in the coalition such as lK Advani are one of the biggest leaders of the country,” he said.
Utilising Advani's concern about the state of affairs in UP, Mulayam said, “I know the situation (the Government is in). The CM should conduct a review... And take stern action. It is the responsibility of the CM to implement the (party) manifesto.” He also rued the fact that those who had worked for the SP's victory were relegated to the background and Ministers had come to hog the limelight.