By IANS
New Delhi : For birthday girl Mayawati, the icing on the cake were the phone calls from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi Tuesday.
“I got a phone call from Sonia Gandhi around 9 a.m. She wished me on my birthday. I took this opportunity to enquire about her health,” the Uttar Pradesh chief minister told reporters in New Delhi.
“The prime minister, Manmohan Singh, who is away in China and was busy in a meeting, also took some time out to wish me on the phone,” she added.
Mayawati appeared very pleased with the phone calls. Her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress have been drifting apart since the presidential elections last year. The BSP also has caused the Congress to worry as it has weaned away traditional voters of the grand old party.
Mayawati had threatened to withdraw the outside support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government anytime after Jan 15 if adequate security was not provided to her. She had demanded National Protection Group (NSG) security as she said there was a threat to her life.
SPG security is given only to the prime minister, former prime ministers, UPA chairperson Gandhi and her children, Priyanka and Rahul.
At present, Mayawati enjoys National Security Guard (NSG) security, which is one rung below the SPG in the security hierarchy.
When asked about her threat to withdraw support to UPA, Mayawati said, “We will sit down and decide sometime soon about what is to be done in this regard.”
However, she did not appear very concerned about the issue.
BSP has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Her withdrawal of support to UPA would be more symbolic as she does not have the numbers to bring down the government. But the step, if taken, would be a significant pointer that daggers have been drawn between the Congress and the BSP.