LUCKNOW, 19 January 2007 — The three-year-old Mulayam Singh government in India’s Uttar Pradesh state yesterday lost the support of two of its allies — the Congress party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
A Congress delegation, led by its state unit chief Salman Khurshid, met Gov. T.V. Rajeshwar in the morning and handed him a letter withdrawing the party’s support for the government. Congress extended its support to the Samajwadi Party-led government after a coalition government of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party collapsed in August 2003.
The winter session of the assembly, which later opened, was disrupted by opposition members, and the governor left without completing his address to the joint session of the house.
Speaking to reporters outside the house, leader of the opposition Lalji Tandon said his Bharatiya Janata Party had protested against the governor’s address as it did not contain any reference to the greusome serial killings in Nithari and the plight of the common man during the rule of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The BJP’s state president, Kesri Nath Tripathi, said the opposition would have a chance to oust the government during a vote in the house on the motion of thanks to the governor’s address.
But chances of that happening seemed remote as the government still enjoys the support of at least 209 members out of 393. The government needs the support of at least 197 members.
