Durga Shakti Nagpal fallout? SP says it won't support food bill

The Samajwadi Party has said that it will not support the food security bill in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.

Speaking to Times Now, senior SP leader Naresh Aggarwal said that the party had decided against supporting the bill. However he insisted that the decision had nothing to do with Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s letter to the Prime Minister where she had expressed concern over the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal.

The Samajwadi Party had reacted angrily to the letter in which Sonia Gandhi had told the Prime Minister to ensure that Nagpal was ’treated fairly'.

“Gandhi should write two more letters, one about the Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka who was suspended by the Chief Minister and another to the Rajasthan CM for suspending two IAS officers. In both the cases, the name of Robert Vadra, cropped up. These cases were related to land deals. So, she should write two more letters to PM so that justice is done in all these cases", Aggarwal had said according to a report by PTI .

In the latest interview, although insisting that the letter had nothing to do with its decision not to back the food security bill, Aggarwal said that Nagpal’s suspension was a state matter and had nothing to do with the centre.

However the statement is in complete contrast to recent developments that had led analysts and observers to believe that Mulayam Singh Yadav was softening his stand towards the bill.

According to a CNN-IBN report a few weeks ago, a Samajwadi Party-Congress deal was in the offing with sources telling CNN-IBN that Mulayam Singh Yadav is likely to support the Food Security Bill in Parliament’s Monsoon Session.

He later said that he was open to an all party meet on the bill. “There is democracy and they may call an all-party meet to discuss the matter (Food Security Bill). But no discussions have taken place so far,” he said.

The Samajwadi party had previously opposed the food security bill stating that it was against the interests of farmers.

The food security bill aims to give legal rights to 67 percent of the population over a uniform quantity of 5 kg foodgrains at a fixed price of Rs 1-3 per kg through ration shops. The Congress party hopes the Food bill will serve as a major vote-getter in important elections coming up soon in Delhi and states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

With inputs from agencies