NEW DELHI: Putting aside its growing rivalry with Samajwadi Party in the lead up to the UP polls, Congress on Wednesday approached Mulayam Singh Yadav for help against opposition's bid to exploit its numerical vulnerability in Parliament.
Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee had a luncheon meeting with Mulayam during which he sought the latter's backing to bail out the government in Parliament, although without much success.
The opposition's insistence on adjournment of the House over price rise put the government in a spot because it was not sure of its numbers in view of a BJP-Left tandem. The threat abated by evening with the opposition relenting on its plan to bring an adjournment motion and agreeing to debate the issue of price rise under a rule which would not involve voting. Yet, the overture to SP, which along with BSP, is the principal target of Rahul Gandhi's campaign in UP, has once again brought out UPA's fragile support base in Parliament. UPA has a tally of 273 in Lok Sabha against the half-way mark of 272. Congress's main rivals in UP, SP (23) and BSP (21) can harass it by voting against it.
Mulayam, accompanied by colleague Mohan Singh, refused to divulge much about the meeting, saying politics wasn't discussed. However, sources said the Congress troubleshooter made a bid to soften the SP chief but failed to evoke much positive response.
Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee had a luncheon meeting with Mulayam during which he sought the latter's backing to bail out the government in Parliament, although without much success.
The opposition's insistence on adjournment of the House over price rise put the government in a spot because it was not sure of its numbers in view of a BJP-Left tandem. The threat abated by evening with the opposition relenting on its plan to bring an adjournment motion and agreeing to debate the issue of price rise under a rule which would not involve voting. Yet, the overture to SP, which along with BSP, is the principal target of Rahul Gandhi's campaign in UP, has once again brought out UPA's fragile support base in Parliament. UPA has a tally of 273 in Lok Sabha against the half-way mark of 272. Congress's main rivals in UP, SP (23) and BSP (21) can harass it by voting against it.
Mulayam, accompanied by colleague Mohan Singh, refused to divulge much about the meeting, saying politics wasn't discussed. However, sources said the Congress troubleshooter made a bid to soften the SP chief but failed to evoke much positive response.
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