Just hours before the crucial vote of confidence for the survival of the UPA government, Samajwadi Party (SP) on Saturday got another jolt when its Jaleshwar MP S P Singh Baghel revolted and announced to vote against the motion in the Lok Sabha.
With the joining of Baghel in the dissident camp, now the strength of the MPs opposing the SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's decision to support the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over the Indo-US Nuclear deal rose to four. Earlier, Muzaffarnagar MP Munnawar Hussain, Mohanlalganj MP Jaiprakash Rawat and Hamirpur MP Raj Narain Budholia announced their opposition to the party leadership.
However, Baghel, who was a very close associate of Yadav, attended yesterday's party meet at New Delhi.
Announcing his decision to oppose the confidence motion, Baghel told mediapersons at Agra that he would vote against the whip of the party.
"I am totally against the nuke deal and the party leadership did not take us in confidence before announcing support to the UPA government over the issue," he said.
Though refusing to admit that his decision to oppose the party's wish was not driven by any move of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Baghel said, ''It was my personal decision to oppose the move."
He said he attended the meeting of the party MPs at New Delhi, but did not join the lunch in protest against the support to the nuke deal.