Prompting a fresh war of words within the fledgling United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA),Samajwadi party general secretary Amar Singh on Tuesday sought to give it back to the AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, putting the poser to her on whether the UNPA existed or not.

Addressing the media this morning, Singh also refused to be provoked into taking a stand against the Left parties. The AIADMK chief in a statement on Sunday had pointed out that her party was not invited to the rally organised by the CPIM against the nuclear deal, where other UNPA constituents like the SP were present. The Left is among the supporting partners of the ruling front in Tamil Nadu.

Stressing on its “friendship” with the Left parties, the SP general secretary said his party could not be ungrateful to them. “We have a consistent, old and unbreakable relationship with the Left parties, especially the CPI-M. Prakash Karat had stood by us when there were moves to impose President’s rule in U P”.

Political observers feel that the fresh confrontation between the SP and the AIADMK is certain to adversely impact the cohesivenes of the UNPA. Singh also maintained that a non-Congress and non-BJP alliance of regional parties would not have been shaped up without the support of the Left front. “The CPI(M) and their other allies do not impose stringent conditions on us. They never tell us whether or not we should talk to Jayalalithaa,” he said.

?Ask Jayalalithaa?, was his terse remark when asked whether the Third Front formally known as the UNPA existed or not. His remarks were a clear dig at the AIADMK chief for her statement earlier in the week wondering whether the UNPA existed at all and whether her party was part of it.