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July 20, 2008
We Have Numbers to
Topple Government: Mayawati
New Delhi
Emerging as the key player in the political drama unfolding ahead of
Tuesday's trust vote, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati
Sunday said the opposition camp had the "numbers" to topple the
Manmohan Singh government.
Addressing reporters after a luncheon meeting with Left and United
National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) leaders here, the Uttar Pradesh
chief minister said: "The government has to be ousted. All the MPs
are working towards this."
"We have a one-point agenda - to topple the government," she said at
a media conference, flanked by Left leaders Prakash Karat and A.B.
Bardhan. The UNPA luncheon meeting with the Left and Mayawati was an
obvious effort at forging a strong Third Front.
The meeting was held at 9, Safdarjang Road, the residence of Telugu
Desam Party (TDP) MP K. Yerran Naidu.
"I am completely sure of the figures," Mayawati said, but refused to
give the numbers of MPs who were in the opposition camp.
She said all the 17 BSP members of parliament were with her and MPs
from other parties were coming "on their own" to join her.
"I have told them that they should resign from their party, fight
elections and join us," she said.
Hitting out at bete noir Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav
for his allegations that the BSP was buying its MPs, she said: "Tell
me where, who and how much has been spent on buying MPs. There has
been no horse trading."
She said: "The truth is Yadav and company have been trying to save
the government at any cost and break BSP ranks."
She said that in the parliament debate on Monday, there would be
discussions on all issues, including the India-US nuclear deal and
inflation.
"We will be meeting on July 23 to decide the next course of action,"
she said.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Prakash Karat said
the UNPA had called the Left and the BSP for the luncheon meet. "We
decided that together we will make efforts to defeat the UPA on July
22. We don't want this government to continue.
"We will continue our struggle against the nuclear deal after the
trust motion. We will meet on July 23 again."
Asked about the possibility of Mayawati becoming the prime minister,
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu said: "We will
take a decision on July 23."
Forward Bloc's Debabrata Biswas concurred, saying the "Left's
ideology has been like that. We worked to make a woman the president
of this country."
TDP leader Yerran Naidu said the UPA had made the nuclear deal a
"prestige issue". "Where is the 'aam admi' (common man) they were
supposed to work for."
He said the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Ajit Singh would join them.
The RLD leader had met Mayawati earlier in the day and announced he
would vote against the government.
Others at the meeting included Communist Party of India (CPI)'s D.
Raja and Abani Roy of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).
Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda's son H.D.
Kumaraswamy was also present.
The luncheon was also attended by other UNPA constituents including
TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)'s Brindavan
Goswami, Indian National Lok Dal's Ajay Chautala and Jharkhand
leader Babulal Marandi.
The National Conference did not attend. National Conference leader
Omar Abdullah had said earlier that he had made up his mind on whom
to support but declined to make it public.
IANS
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July 20, 2008
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