Mulayam tells party to prepare for LS polls in November

With the rift between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party out in the open, SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav has said that Lok Sabha elections could be held as early as November. Addressing party workers in Lucknow, Yadav had said: “I have come to know about a confidential report which says that elections will be held in November. You people start preparing for them.” [caption id=“attachment_678630” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] The statement comes mere hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh formally admitted that the SP could withdraw support from the UPA, but reiterated that the government would complete its full term. The Prime Minister speaking to reporters on Air India One, said ““Well, obviously coalitions face issues. Sometimes, they give the impression that these arrangements are not not very stable arrangements and I cannot deny that such possibilities don’t exist”. The Samajwadi Party with 22 MPs and BSP with 21 are providing crucial outside support to the government and bailing it out in times of crisis. The Congress however, seem to be done pandering. On Thursday the party hit back at SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for accusing it of being “cheat and clever” as it reminded him that he had shared the dais with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when the UPA’s report was released in 2012. It asked Yadav, whose party is supporting government from outside, to decide whether he was with secular or communal forces as it questioned his praise for BJP veteran LK Advani. “We do not want to comment on the remarks of Mulayam Singh Yadav. He, himself, can explain it best. But only a few months back, Yadav shared the dais with the Prime Minister when the UPA’s report card on its three-year performance was released (last May). “Now all of a sudden, he is criticising Congress and its leadership and appreciating LK Advani and the NDA, whereas the fact is Advani and other BJP leaders had a role in the demolition of Babri Masjid and the communal riots at Ahmedabad and Godhra that took place during NDA rule,” party spokesperson Rashid Alvi told PTI. PTI