Mayawati softens stand on UPA, trains guns on SP

She said that the nuclear deal had become “most controversial” because the UPA Government did not evolve a consensus on it, thus giving an opportunity to ‘self-centred’ parties like the SP to strike a political deal with the Congress. More importantly, she also said that the BSP would decide whether to support a no-confidence motion against the Government when it was actually tabled in the Lok Sabha.

Mayawati, who was addressing a press conference, said, “It’s not clear whether the nuclear deal is in national interest or not. We had suggested that the Government seek a political consensus before finalising the deal but our suggestion was ignored by the UPA, thus making the deal most controversial and threatening the very survival of the Government,” adding that the imprudence of the Congress had compelled it “to seek the support of that party (Samajwadi Party) which earlier they could not stand the sight of.” Stepping up her anti-SP rhetoric, she said, “The repeated mistakes committed by the UPA Government on the nuclear deal are being exploited by the Samajwadi Party and now it is beyond doubt that Mulayam Singh Yadav has struck a deal with the Congress at the Centre to further his own interests, bypassing national interest in the process.”

Accusing the SP of extending support to the UPA despite its failure to take the people of the country into confidence and to specify the terms and conditions of the n-deal, she she said the deal would be totally unacceptable until it took into account members of all communities.

Mayawati said details of the deal were coming out in bits and pieces, and as the UPA Government had failed to present it in its totality, there was a lot of confusion over it. She predicted that the people would ‘teach a lesson’ to the Congress and the SP in the Lok Sabha polls, and claimed she had definite information that the SP would give a letter...