Sonia therapy works, SP takes U-turn on withdrawal threat

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New Delhi: Upset at being ignored by the Congress leadership, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday flagged attention of the UPA by threatening to withdraw support to the government, returning satisfied only after hurriedly being granted an audience by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

A visibly happy Amar Singh emerged from the meeting with Gandhi on Wednesday evening, in which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee were also present, to state that he was returning back satisfied with the interaction. The exercise is being seen as a move by the SP to draw attention of UPA leaders.

Earlier in the day, the SP leadership had maintained that it could resort to the extreme step if the UPA government failed to take decisive action against Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai blasts. "During an all-party meeting held 40 days ago, the government had promised party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav that decisive action against Pakistan will be taken within 15 days...that deadline is over," Singh had said.

He also said that the SP would demand a meeting of the SP-Congress coordination committee to discuss the issue. ‘‘Our leaders are upset at the weak stand against Pakistan...our parliamentary board will be meeting on Thursday and we may consider withdrawing support to the UPA government,’’ he said after a meeting with Mukherjee earlier.

‘‘There are a lot of formalities to be fulfilled before we take any drastic step, so I decided to meet the Prime Minister to convey the mood of our party leadership. I apprised Mukherjee about what SP thinks of the current scenario,’’ Singh said. Singh said that SP had decided to support the UPA government over the nuclear deal and did not ask for any favours in return. The SP general secretary said that at the time of finalising the nuclear deal the US gave friendly vibes to India ‘‘but now when the deal is done, it is asking India to exercise restraint after the Mumbai attacks, while it says nothing to Israel which has pummeled Gaza with air strikes.’’

On its part, the Congress had sought to downplay the issue saying the spirit of the statement has to be seen not the motive. ‘‘The spirit of the statement should be seen, not the motive,’’ Congress media department chief M Veerappa Moily told reporters here.