SP says UPA using CBI to blackmail Mulayam

On the eve of the vote in Rajya Sabha over the quota in promotion Bill, the Samajwadi Party accused the UPA government on Sunday of using the CBI to blackmail party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav into supporting FDI in retail as well as the constitutional amendment Bill.

In a statement, party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said the CBI was being used to pressure Mulayam. Claiming that social harmony and equality would be disturbed by the measures on FDI and reservation in promotions, the SP said the BJP hoped to come to power using communal forces and was part of the "conspiracy".

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court allowed the CBI to probe the disproportionate assets case against Mulayam and his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The SP is giving outside support to the UPA but has opposed FDI as well as the quota in promotions.

Chaudhary cited the reported statement of former CBI director U S Mishra that the CBI functions under pressure of the government. Another former CBI director Joginder Singh also reportedly said that it was not an independent agency. "But Mulayam Singh Yadav has never cared about the consequences and always displayed courage," Chaudhary added. "Despite the UPA government pressure, the SP is not going to compromise on its ideology." Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's policies have pushed the country into inflation, corruption and poverty, he added.

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