After DMK, SP plays hardball with Congress

Samajwadi Party SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav whose support to the UPA government has become crucial after the DMKrsquos exit from the coalition appears to be striking a hard bargain with the ruling Congress Though the Congress yesterday said the lsquoego warrsquo between Beni Prasad Verma and Mulayam Singh Yadav was almost over with the steel minister expressing regret over his remarks the SP chief refused to say the issue had been resolvedu00a0ldquoThe SP parliamentary party will meet today to decide on Vermarsquos regretrdquo SP MP Shailendra Kumar told reporters Yadav has been demanding Verma be sacked indicating that the issue might not be resolved soon Vermarsquos resignation was sought after he publicly rebuked Yadav SP members alleged that Verma said Yadav received ldquocommissionrdquo for supporting the central government Earlier at a rally in his constituency in UP Verma reportedly said Yadav had links with terrorists The SP with 22 members in the Lok Sabha is crucial for the survival of the Congressled UPA government especially after the DMK which has 18 MPs quit on Tuesday over the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils The government however claimed it had the support of 278 Lok Sabha members out of the 543 Yadavrsquos importance for the Congress can be gauged from the fact that it took UPA chairperson and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to walk up to him in the lower house of parliament and apologise for Vermarsquos remarks Gandhi who was present in the Lok Sabha and watching the new bonhomie between the SP an outside supporter of the government and opposition BJP walked up to Yadavrsquos seat soon after the house was adjourned around noon A few minutes earlier BJP member and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj had sought Vermarsquos resignation over his comments and asked for the matter to be referred to the privileges committee The SPCongress relationship has been through many ups and downs in the past few months with Yadav flexing his muscles by declaring candidates for the 2014 general elections and repeatedly asking party workers to be ready for early polls But he also played a key role in bailing out the UPA when ally Trinamool Congress walked out over the issue of economic reforms in September 2012 Verma yesterday expressed ldquoregretrdquo over his comments after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Earlier the Congress also rebuffed him for the remarks But Verma denied making such a statement ldquoI never gave such a statement that they the SP get commissions for supporting the government Still if anyonersquos feelings were hurt because of what I said I express regretrdquo Verma told reporters Before the Lok Sabha met Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said ldquoI expressed regret over the matter in the house They SP have not raised the issue after that I met them yesterday Tuesday and they are satisfied and the matter is closedrdquo Verma and Yadav were considered close till 2009 before he left the SP to join the Congress Netaji to decide on supporting UPA Akhilesh UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav yesterday said his party was prepared for Lok Sabha polls anytime but the final decision on continuing support to the UPA government will be taken by party chief Mulayam Singh Yadavu00a0Addressing a tradersrsquo gathering he admitted that the UPA government was in turmoil and speculation was rife on its survival ldquo As far as our party is concerned any decision of continuing outside support or not lies with Netajirdquo he addedu00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0u00a0