E-Paper
Cong-led coalition could be unstable: SP
Samajwadi Party has said that the Cong-led coalition could be "unstable" if major allies remained outside.
As the 64-member strong Left parties announced their decision not to join the next Government at the Centre, Samajwadi Party on Monday said the Congress-led coalition could be "unstable" if major allies and supporting parties remained outside.
"It could be unstable," party General Secretary Amar Singh told reporters when asked how stable could be the new coalition if parties having a total strength of over 100 members extended only outside support.
Noting that running a coalition meant managing contradictions, he said there were contradictions in West Bengal, Kerala, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh as some parties supporting the coalition were rivals in the states with the party leading the Government at the Centre.
Singh, whose party with a strength of 36 in the Lok Sabha and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal with three members on Monday directly submitted to President APJ Abdul Kalam letters of support to the Congress-led coalition, said that his party was not "hungry" for power.
At the same time, he asserted that "no one can wish us away."
"Coalition is a game of give and take," Singh said adding "the Government in power has the duty to take along all its constituents."
Singh said "my personal opinion" was that Samajwadi Party should not join the Government, but the Parliamentary Board of the party had authorised party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to take a decision.
However, he added that no decision would be taken without consulting the Left and CPM General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet.
As regards the Common Minimum Programme being formulated for the coalition, he said Samajwadi Party would give its suggestions only if asked for by the Left parties.
The SP leader hit out at the BJP for raising the foreign origin issue when Sonia Gandhi was set to take over as Prime Minister.
He said that the issue had been settled by Supreme Court and anyone again raking it up could be hauled up for contempt of court.
Singh was also critical of Union Minister and BJP leader Sushma Swaraj's plans to resign as MP if Gandhi becomes Prime Minister.
"Swaraj should not make such comments as she had even contested against Gandhi from Bellary in 1999," he said.
