Cong involved in friendly fight with SP, BSP: Jaitley

Kanpur: The Congress is involved in a "friendly fight" with Samajwadi Party and BSP in Uttar Pradesh elections as it requires either of them for running its government at the Centre, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said on Friday.

"You just have to look on the issues of Lokayukta, Pension Bill or hike in petrol prices...UPA's largest ally Trinamool has been opposing the government on these issues. The matter has reached to this level that it was the first to register protest when Union minister Beni Prasad Verma dared the EC on reservation row," he said.

Jaitley was in Kanpur to address poll rallies for party candidates.

"All this proves that the relation between Congress and Trinamool Congress is souring. The Congress leaders are well aware of this fact," he added.

He went on to state that the government will be short of numbers once the TC-Congress ties are severed. "Therefore, the main objective of Congress is to emerge as a small party and take along either BSP or Samajwadi Party to save its government at the Centre," Jaitley claimed.

"The Congress is thus involved in a friendly fight with the BSP and SP with this objective (to save the government). Our aim is to win the maximum number of seats in Uttar Pradesh polls to foil the Congress' design," he added.

Asked to comment on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement where he held non-Congress governments responsible for lack of development in UP in the last 22 years, Jaitley said, "Neither UP was formed 22 years back nor UP has been lagging behind only for the last 22 years. Singh came into politics 20 years ago. This doesn't mean that there was no politics in UP prior to that. Before this 22 years, Congress held power for at least 40 years. The lack of development in UP is a legacy of the past and Congress is fully responsible

for it."

Commenting on Union Ministers Salman Khurshid and Beni Prasad Verma, Jaitley said that both of them were breaking rules and even Rashtrapati Bhavan was apprised of the matter.

Asked on whom the BJP will support after the UP polls, Jaitley said, "given the bitter experiences we had in the past, we will neither support nor take support of any party."