The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Saturday hit back at Beni Prasad Verma over his comment that Mulayam Singh Yadav”s party will win only four seats in the Lok Sabha polls and there will be a ”funeral procession” for the party, saying the Union Steel Minister is frustrated.
“Beni Prasad Verma is my elder and had been in our party for quite a long time. I can understand his frustration because his son lost twice before our candidates. When he contested from Ayodhya, he managed to get just 400 votes,” said Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav.
“He is frustrated and we should not see his statement as that of the Congress Party,” he added.
Verma, who recently triggered a controversy by stating that Mulayam Singh Yadav allegedly has ”terrorist links”, said the Congress will fight all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and will win 40.
“We will not let BJP win more than 10 seats. Behenji (Mayawati) will win 36. And of whom you are talking about (SP) will win four seats and there will be a funeral procession for that party,” he told mediapersons in Balrampur.
Verma had recently angered Mulayam Singh Yadav by his comments against him.
Yadav had then demanded his resignation during meetings with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi following which Verma had expressed regret.
The Union Steel Minister”s remark comes at a time when the Samajwadi Party supremo has been critical of the Congress-led UPA II Government.
Amid speculation that the Samajwadi Party might pull out of the UPA Government, Yadav yesterday made it clear that he has no plans now to withdraw support to the Congress-led UPA II Government at the Centre.
“Relations have not soured. Right now withdrawing support has not been discussed in the party. Now there is no question of SP withdrawing support to the UPA Government,” Yadav told a news channel in an interview.
“Why withdraw support and make the government fall when it”s a matter of just eight-nine months,” he added.
The Samajwadi Party chief had earlier evinced interest in forming a Third Front of political parties committed to social change in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress-led UPA Government has been in a minority since September last year when Mamata Banerjee pulled out her Trinamool Congress over the Centre”s economic reforms, including opening the retail sector to foreign super-chains like Wal-Mart.
Earlier this month the DMK withdrew its support to the UPA over the issue of alleged human rights violations of Sri Lankan Tamils, and ruled out any reconsideration.
This move of the DMK has made the UPA Government vulnerable despite its assertions of having a parliamentary majority. The ruling coalition will now eye for support from the regional parties, which includes the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party.
The Samajwadi Party provides outside support to the UPA. (ANI)