By IANS,
Lucknow : The Samajwadi Party Sunday said it was ready to contest the upcoming assembly elections on its own if it did not reach a consensus with the Congress, which it supports at the centre.
“Barring Uttar Pradesh, where we are in the final stages of seat sharing with the Congress for the Lok sabha elections (due next year), we are ready to contest most of the seats in the assembly elections of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh,” Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav told reporters in Lucknow Sunday.
Six states will hold assembly polls in the next two months.
The Samajwadi Party will also be launching a state-wide campaign “Ghera Dalo, Dera Dalo”, literally meaning “surround the government and stay there”, from Oct 21 “to expose” the state administration, he added.
“We challenge Chief Minister Mayawati to impose prohibitory orders in the entire state, we always feel proud to defy anarchic orders,” Mulayam Singh, a former chief minister, said.
He once again demanded a high-level judicial inquiry into last month’s Delhi encounter in Jamia Nagar in which two youths were shot dead by police for alleged links with the serial blasts in the capital. A police inspector was also killed in the incident.
“We are adamant on this demand and it was only for the sake of better electricity supply and nuclear empowerment that we supported the Congress,” Mulayam Singh said. His party had offered crucial support to the Congress-led government in New Delhi in July after the Left parties withdrew to protest the India-US civil nuclear deal.
“The Congress should not turn a deaf ear to our demand (for a probe),” he said. “If the Congress does so, it will send a negative message against the party and the United Progressive Alliance government throughout the country,” he said.
Replying to questions on why the Mayawati government Saturday may have backtracked on its decision to cancel land for the rail coach factory in Rae Bareli, Mulayam Singh said: “The withdrawal only reflects how the chief minister got afraid of the unrest of the people of Rae Bareli and did what she never does.”
A senior Congress leader, S.P. Rana, also joined the Samajwadi Party Sunday.
“I had been with the Congress since 1979, but am astonished at the lethargic attitude of the party over the past couple of years. Because of this, I have decided to join the Samajwadi Party which is a pro-poor party,” Rana claimed.