No threat to govt, say SP, BSP; on ventilator, says BJP

The United Progressive Alliance’s two crucial outside supporters -- the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party -- on Tuesday saw no threat to the government and said it was stable after key constituent Dravida Munetra Kazhagam pulled out while the Bharatiya Janata Party asserted it was in a minority and on ‘ventilator’.

The BJP also said the UPA government has to go and that it was ready for elections. The Lok Sabha polls are due in May next year.

As the announcement by DMK supremo M Karunanidhi to pull out of the Union government and the UPA alliance over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue raised the political heat, another key UPA ally nationalist Congress Party cautioned against jumping to any conclusion on the survival of the Congress-led government.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa called arch rival DMK's action as a ‘drama’. The SP and the BSP account for 22 seats and 21 seats in the Lok Sabha respectively out of UPA's outside support of 57 members of Parliament.

The SP also went to say that DMK's decision was only to ‘blackmail’ the government on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, and asserted the present dispensation was stable.

"No one has pulled out, this is only to blackmail the government. It is stable," senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav, said, adding the party's support will continue.

He maintained that neither the DMK has withdrawn support not it intends to do so. "Has it (DMK) given anything in writing to the President," he sought to know. BSP supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati stressed that her party will support the UPA government in Parliament.

"The UPA government is not in a minority, we will support it”. NCP Vice President Praful Patel while cautioning against jumping to any conclusion on the fallout of the DMK announcement noted that Karunanidhi himself has stated he would reconsider his decision if Parliament passes a resolution on Lankan Tamils issue.

"Let us not jump to any conclusion. The DMK has said they would reconsider if Parliament passes a resolution on the Lankan Tamils issue," he added. Quick to pounce on UPA's predicament, the BJP sharpened its attack on the government.

"The government is on the ventilator...It does not have a majority now. It should go," BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told mediapersons. Asked whether BJP is ready to face the electorate, he said, "We are always ready to face the elections."