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SP distances itself from Cong.

By K.V. Prasad

NEW DELHI NOV. 19. Upset over the Congress decision to abstain from voting in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council election on Monday, the Samajwadi Party today launched a tirade against the Congress and announced that it would not support the party "either inside or outside" Parliament.

As another measure of distancing itself from the Congress, the SP also announced that it would contest 120 seats in the December 12 Gujarat Assembly elections.

Barely three months ago, all major Opposition parties including the SP, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Left had come to an understanding that secular and democratic parties should engage the BJP in a one-to-one contest in Gujarat.

Having come close in upstaging the official BSP-BJP nominee in the Legislative Council poll, the SP did not mince words in blaming the Congress for the inability to bridge the gap.

A defeat, the SP assessed, would have rendered the tottering U.P. Government a lethal blow.

The SP's outburst against the Congress and the U.P. Governor, Vishnukant Shastri, was launched by its general secretary, Amar Singh, who demanded the immediate convening of the Assembly to test the coalition Government's majority.

He said even though the Mayawati Government had lost support, the Governor insisted that it enjoyed majority.

Mr. Amar Singh was equally critical of the U.P. Congress for belatedly approaching the Governor now for convening an Assembly session. "The Opposition now has 183 supporters even without the Congress support.''

He said and added that even on Monday, he had approached several Congress leaders, including Motilal Vora, Manmohan Singh and K. Natwar Singh, asking them not to abstain from voting in Council polls.

The Congress has "animosity, contempt and hatred'' towards the SP since it felt threatened by the party in U.P.. "In any case, where is the comparison between the Congress and the SP in U.P. as we are the number one and they are far behind,'' he claimed.

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