SP must be key to next government in Delhi: Mulayam

Kolkata  : Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Wednesday said he was determined to ensure that no government takes office in New Delhi next without his party’s support.

Addressing the inaugural session of the SP’s national executive here, Yadav said that while the Congress was demoralised and neck deep in corruption, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in a limbo.

“In the present scenario, the SP has to bear greater responsibility in national politics. The 2014 election will be decisive. You should all make sincere efforts so that we win a good number of seats so that no government can be formed in Delhi without our support,” Yadav said.

“We are already in power in Uttar Pradesh. If we come to power at the centre, then our area of influence will be spread all across north India, from Punjab to (West) Bengal,” he said.

In a stinging attack on the Congress, the SP supremo said the nation was beset with a large number of problems. Unemployment and poverty were on the rise.

“Our borders are under threat. There are a lot of scams. The Congress is a large party but its confidence is shaken. It is unable to do anything for people. With the scams, its image has taken a beating,” he said.

Referring to the Sachar Committee report, Yadav said: “The condition of the Muslims in the country is worse than that of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

“Who set up the Sachar Committee? (Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh. The report is before him but its recommendations have not been heeded. By setting up committees, the government wants to confuse and fool people/”

In an apparent attack on Coal Minister Shri Prakash Jaiswal, Yadav said: “One minister allotted coal blocks to his relative the very day he took charge of the department.”

Yadav said the SP stood the chance of bagging a good number of seats from West Bengal too in the next Lok Sabha polls.