Congress set to take on SP on its own turf

Fresh look To hold protests across state over law and order, Beni to attend.

Even as it reached a temporary truce with the Samajwadi Party on the issue of the resignation of Union minister Beni Prasad Verma, the Congress is all set to turn the heat on the SP regime in Uttar Pradesh with senior Congress leaders scheduled to hold demonstrations and sit-ins across the state on Saturday to protest the worsening law and order situation in the state.

What would further irk the SP is the fact that Verma has been allowed by the Congress leadership to address the party's protest meeting in Lucknow, along with other leaders like Nirmal Khatri and Jitin Prasada. It is the first time since Akhilesh Yadav government came to power about a year back that the Congress would be hitting the ground against the SP regime.

Early this week, the SP had demanded the sacking of Verma for his alleged remarks linking SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to terrorists and allegedly stating that he takes commission for supporting the UPA at the Centre. Although the SP's support became crucial for the stability of the government following the DMK's pullout from the UPA, the Congress leadership refused to yield to the SP's demand for Verma's sacking.

Following Congress president Sonia Gandhi's intervention and Verma's "regret", the SP leadership toned down their offensive posturing, although Mulayam maintained after the SP's Parliamentary Party meeting on Thursday that he was authorised to take "any decision on any issue at an appropriate time".

Congress's decision to ignore Mulayam's threats and target SP regime in Uttar Pradesh hinges on its assessment that he is not prepared to pull down the UPA government at this stage and needs time to deliver on his party's manifesto promises in UP. Besides, the Congress leadership believes that given the reluctance of most political parties to face the electorate over a year ahead of the schedule, the SP supremo would be "wiser" than Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee who had fancied a chance to topple the UPA government only to end up getting isolated.

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