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Thursday, August 09, 2001
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SP may pull out of Maharashtra Govt.

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI, AUG. 8. The Samajwadi Party, an ally of the Nationalist Congress Party and a partner in the multi-party coalition may soon pull out of the Maharashtra Government.

The party's lone MLA, Mr. Nawab Malik, who holds the Housing portfolio, has been advised by the party leader, Mr. Amar Singh, to ``quit on his own'' since ``in principle, we are not with the Government any more''.

As general secretary in-charge of the Maharashtra affairs of the party, Mr. Amar Singh, ``will recommend the party's decision- making body to quit this Government'' which has not understood its true role and is busy baiting the Samajwadi Party. ``Our State unit chief, Mr. Abu Asim Azmi, is in jail since August 2, and this Government would love to keep him there longer.'' Mr. Singh who met Mr. Azmi today, asked him to seek bail. Mr. Azmi, who was agitating for the reconstruction of a mosque wall in the suburbs here, was picked up and denied permission to apply for bail and was sent to the Thane jail. The Ulemas here have told him ``that henceforth, the fight for the wall is ours and you have done your duty,'' according to the party's State unit spokesman, Mr. Majid Memon. Both Mr. Singh and Mr. Memon addressed a press conference here today.

Mr. Singh said the party would not have any poll arrangement with either the Congress - ``which did nothing for Muslims''- or the NCP, which ``coerced one of our two MLAs, Mr. Bashir Patel into its fold''. The question of a tie-up ``with BJP or Sena does not arise at all.''

Though Mr. Singh denied there was any fear or suspicion about Mr. Malik walking away to the NCP, he said that those who left the SP fared poorly, likening their fate to that which befell the Jana Sangh's Balraj Madhok. Mr. Rajaram Salvi, then State chief, walked out to the BJP and ``look where he is now.'' Mr. Hussain Dalvai, a State Chief, became MLC and joined the Congress and lost his status as Minister.

I lost my cool: Amar Singh

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, AUG. 8. The Samajwadi Party spokesman, Mr. Amar Singh, admitted here today that he ``lost his cool'' and made allegations about the BJP's involvement in the Phoolan Devi murder but maintained that ``since the Uttar Pradesh Government withdrew her security, it was responsible to that extent''.

Responding to a question at a press conference here whether he held the same view as he did on the day of the murder given the later findings by the Delhi Police, Mr. Singh said: ``I agree I was hasty but what could I do? Just two hours before she was killed, Phoolan had told me she did not know why the Uttar Pradesh Minister, Mr. Rangnath Mishra, had visited her.''

Did she not know the purpose of the visit despite meeting Mr. Mishra? ``No, she was told by the visitors that the two persons accompanying him had not seen her and wanted to see her.'' That fuelled suspicions about the motive of the visit. The place where the U.P. Chief Minister - ``he was there that day'' - stayed was ``separated by just a wall'' from her residence.

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