Mulayam hints at mid-term elections in his speech to party workers

Lucknow:  With UPA allies pushing the Congress in a tight corner over several issues, the Samajwadi Party chief who is extending outside support to the UPA government at the centre, has hinted at more political uncertainty and the possibility of a mid-term Lok Sabha election.

Speaking to party workers on the 102nd birth anniversary of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, Mulayam Singh Yadav said that the party must implement its policies and poll promises efficiently, initiating programmes within the next 6 months.

"I'll tell Akhilesh to have all officers get a copy of the SP manifesto and read up on the promises made by us pertaining to their department. Implementation programmes should start delivering in six months or  a maximum of one year.  It should not take more than a year, because you never know when the 2014 (sic) elections happen. The government has to decide and act soon," said the Samajwadi Party chief.

Mr Yadav said he did not become chief minister but he continues to monitor his party's government in the state. "I will keep an eye on government's functioning and ensure that the promises in manifesto are fulfilled," he said.

There has been much speculation that the 72-year-old, who has just installed his 38-year-old son Akhilesh Yadav as Chief Minister of UP after a spectacular electoral performance, might join the Union Cabinet as the Congress looks for new political alignments to bolster its very fragile coalition at the Centre.
The SP gives outside support to the UPA government and has bailed it many times during Parliament votes. It voted in support of the UPA earlier this week on the issue of the National Counter Terrorism Centre. The government won those votes. Mr Yadav insists his support is based on keeping communal forces away from the Centre.

The Congress is reportedly keen that the SP join the coalition formally  - Mulayam Singh Yadav has 22 MPs in the Lok Sabha, which would more than offset the 19 MPs that the troublesome Trinamool Congress threatens to withdraw regularly.

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Seems like mid-term polls are around the corner: Sukhbir Singh Badal

Chandigarh:  Ahead of its swearing-in ceremony in Punjab, Akali Dal's leader Sukhbir Singh Badal added to the mid-term polls clamour by saying that they are around the corner because the UPA government has failed to make policy decisions.

"It seems like it (mid-term polls are around the corner). If you look through the country, the Congress party is being wiped out because their performance has been so bad. I have been talking to a lot of industrialists and they want an immediate change. The country and the government of India has come to a standstill," Mr Badal told NDTV.

"The growth rate has gone down, and inflation has gone up; there is financial chaos in this country," he added.

He also said that he has invited West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the swearing-in ceremony on March 15, but Mr Badal is not sure if she will attend. (Read: Mamata keeps Congress on the edge)

"We are all Indians, we are a part of a family. Personal relations are above party lines.  It's a wrong projection by the media. It doesn't mean that somebody in Congress is our enemy. But I am not sure if she (Ms Banerjee) is attending" Mr Badal said.

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