New Delhi:
Hitting out at Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for favouring a Third Front, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday dared him to first sever ties with United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, of which his party has been a "part and parcel".
BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy claimed Mr Yadav is "showing a lot of desperation" about a Third Front though he himself is supporting the "corrupt" UPA government. "He should first set free the country from the UPA government," he said.
The main Opposition stated that in the country's polity there is no place for a Third Front as the contest is between the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA.
"Mulayam Singh Yadav is with the UPA though he wants to wash his hands off it. A Third Front can emerge only when the Left has a sizable number. But the Left has been decimated. So it is a battle drawn between the UPA and the NDA," Mr Rudy said.
The BJP hit out at Mr Yadav, alleging that he cannot be trusted as he goes back on his word very often.
"What is the Samajwadi Party after all? It is a regional party which has 19 MPs headed by Mulayam Singh. It contests against the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and supports the Congress in Delhi," he said.
The BJP enumerated several instances when the SP had come to the "rescue" of the UPA government.
"These include the cut-motion moved by the Opposition on price rise during UPA-II, opposing the move by the Public Accounts Committee to summon Prime Minister and his aide in the 2G spectrum case, and by supporting the Congress candidate in the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections.
"Mulayam Singh and the SP have never disappointed the Congress. It is true that he has disappointed the country several times but never the Congress. He and his party are part and parcel of the UPA government," Mr Rudy said.