By IANS,
New Delhi : After giving signals of getting closer to the Congress, Samajwadi Party Friday did a u-turn and announced it would work closely with Left parties to form an alternative to the ruling coalition as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh Friday announced that United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) leaders will meet the Left parties in the first week of July to discuss a joint strategy to fight against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s policies, which have led to increase in petroleum prices.
Singh alleged that the UPA government did not take any measures to protect the interests of the poor people, but took steps that would help the rich corporates earn more profit.
“This is an anti-people move,” Singh told reporters here, referring to the hike in petrol and diesel prices by Rs.5 and Rs.3 per litre and of cooking gas by Rs.50 a cylinder.
He, however, said that party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had already discussed with Communist Party India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat and Telugu Desam Party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu the protests on the issue.
Singh, who kept on pressing on his party’s association with the communists, also said the UNPA would be a political force other than BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and the UPA.
“The relationship with the Left is very important in the coming days. It is very necessary that Left and the UNPA synergise with each other, otherwise it would be difficult to make a potential alternative,” he said.
Asked whether there would be a pact between the Congress and his party, Singh said “Rajeev Shukla, a congress MP and who is supposed to be close to the Gandhis, and is also the political manager of the party in Amethi (traditional Gandhi family constituency) has said in Lucknow that the Samajwadi Party has to explain its political conduct. He also said there is no alliance.”
Singh termed a meeting between Yadav and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in Lucknow Friday as a “a political and a constitutional requirement” because Yadav is the leader of opposition in the state assembly.