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SP wants more say in UPA coalition
December 15, 2004 15:15 IST
The Samajwadi Party has said the Congress should shed its arrogance in running the United Progressive Alliance coalition government at the Centre.
The SP, which supports the UPA government from outside with 40 members of Parliament, said it wants a 'definite say' in the running of the coalition.
The party also said the mutual support between the SP and the Congress at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh will continue as long as the threat of the Bharatiya Janata Party existed. That does not mean the UP and the central governments are surviving on each other's support, SP general secretary Amar Singh said in an interview.
He said the party is not thinking of opposing the central coalition because Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "has not given us any personal cause to take a hardline stand."
"We would like to have a definite and firm say in the running of the UPA. I think it is our due. But it is because of Congress party's arrogance not to accept our support that we decided in our Jhansi meeting we will not go behind them with a begging bowl. If we are needed, we will be there," he said.
He made it clear he did not mean a ministerial berth for the party when he said the SP wants a definite say in the UPA affairs.
Asked about his assessment of the government at the Centre, Singh said it is a 'functioning chaos' and cited the spat between two ministers – Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan.