Congress 'attitude' will weaken govt, to decide on strategy tomorrow: Mulayam Singh Yadav

KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Amidst an escalating crisis for the UPA II government, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday said that the SP parliamentary board will meet on Thursday to discuss their strategy for the current poll situation.

Mulayam's statement followed Trinamool Congress ( TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee's decision to pullout of the UPA II government. "The government should be wise. There is so much pressure on the common man, farmers," Yadav said.

"Government's stubborn behaviour will do it no good. Congress Party will become weaker because of it," he added. TMC announced its intent to pullout following the government's refusal to rollback FDI in retail, diesel price hike and a cap on LPG cylinders.
The second biggest constituent of the UPA with 19 members in Lok Sabha said the party could reconsider its stand if the government rolls back its decisions on FDI, raised the cap on subsidised LPG from six to 12 cylinders besides reducing diesel hike from Rs 5 by Rs 3 or Rs 4.

Reacting to the TMC move, NCP leader Tariq Anwar said, "I don't think taking such step was necessary." Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan echoed a similar sentiment by saying that nobody wants instability.

Asserting that the UPA government has lost its moral right to continue, Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh step down and seek a fresh mandate.

"Before accepting the resignation of Trinamool Congress ministers, the Prime Minister should step down and seek a fresh mandate on whether the country is permitting his policies or not," the MP said in a tweet.

Opposing what he described as "anti-people policies", he said, "Congress should remember it is not their private government. They have no moral right to continue with those policies."