M A I N   N E W S

SP sure of majority in House
Renews plea to UP Governor

New Delhi, March 21
Undeterred by the imposition of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) today made a renewed call to Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri to invite the party to form government in the state as per the “democratic norms”, saying that it had the requisite support to prove majority in the Assembly.

Talking to mediapersons, senior SP leader Amar Singh said: “The Governor should invite the Samajwadi Party, being the single largest party, to form the government... We will prove our majority.”

To a pointed question how the SP would muster the requisite number to prove its majority, the senior leader said it was in touch with “secular groups” and Independents.

However, he refused to divulge if the party was seeking the support of the Rashtriya Kranti Dal (RKD) of former state Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and the Apna Dal. “This is a matter of our policy and we will not disclose it at this stage.”

Asked if the Congress would support it, he said the SP was hopeful it would and it also expected a large number of Independents to back its claim.

However, he ruled out any horse-trade to achieve the magic figure and said, “neither do we believe in horse-trade, nor will engineer a split in the Congress or any other party.”

In case the party failed to win the confidence vote in the 404-member House, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav would resign.

Mr Amar Singh accused the BJP and its leader Rajnath Singh of indulging in “unfair practices” to remain in power. “We are not like Mr Rajnath Singh who splits the BSP and the Congress to remain in power.”

Coming down heavily on the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), he said the BSP and its leaders Mayawati and Kanshi Ram were ‘betraying’ the voters by hob-nobbing with communal forces like the BJP to secure power. UNI