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Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow
The Samajwadi Party on Friday staked claim to form an alternative government in Uttar Pradesh, while urging state Governor Vishnukant Shastri to dismiss the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party-Bharatiya Janata Party.
Led by party general secretary Amar Singh, the SP's 142 MLAs marched into the Raj Bhawan demanding immediate dismissal of the ruling coalition, which incidentally completes six months on Sunday.
"We have the support of 204 members in the 403-member state assembly," Azam Khan, the leader of the Samajwadi Party in the state legislature told mediapersons shortly after meeting the governor.
"In any case we are the largest single party in the house and together with our allies we have also enlisted the support of 37 BJP legislators, who are fed up with the party and the government," he said.
According to him, among others behind the SP were a chunk of the 14 independents and the Left parties.
Asked if he had submitted any list of the MLAs to the governor, Khan said, "We will prove our majority on the floor of the house."
Their meeting with the governor lasted about 30 minutes.
Governor Shastri, however, refused to talk to the media. "He is in consultation with constitutional experts, so he is not in a position to say anything right away," a senior Raj Bhawan spokesman said.
Meanwhile, a visibly shaken BJP state president Vinay Katiyar maintained, "This claim without any list of names means nothing."
While emphatically denying that any of the BJP MLAs were willing to switch sides, he made a counter claim, "In that case, let me tell you that an equal number of SP MLAs had expressed their desire to cross over to our side."
Significantly SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav kept away from the scene. He was stated to be in Patna.
While three members of the Rashtriya Kranti Party joined the SP bandwagon, RKP chief Kalyan Singh was also conspicuous by his absence.
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