Mayawati steps up pressure

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati continued her cat-and-mouse game with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) as her party authorised her to decide on its support to the ruling alliance.

The BSP supremo appeared to be stepping up the offensive against the UPA government in the wake of her interrogation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a disproportionate assets case.

Mayawati appears under pressure because of the seriousness of the Taj corridor cases, and is jockeying for position in a situation where her support is not that critical for the government not to risk angering her.

Mayawati had strong words for the government, both the previous NDA and the UPA, which she accused of doing nothing for Dalits. She maintained she was being prosecuted by the CBI only because she was a Dalit.

"There is no difference between the NDA and the UPA. Both are Manuwadi coalitions," the former chief minister said.

"The NDA is nagnath (king cobra), while the UPA is the saapnath (snake)," she said. "The only difference is that if a king cobra bites, a person dies instantaneously. But if you are bitten by a snake you die a slow death," said Mayawati.

"The BSP central executive committee and state unit presidents have authorised me to take a decision on the question of withdrawal of outside support to the UPA government," Mayawati said after a meeting of party leaders today to review the performance of the UPA government.

Asked whether she would withdraw support to the UPA government, Mayawati said, "We did not spare the NDA, (which supported her government in Uttar Pradesh). How can we spare the Congress?"

"Even today, the reservation quota for Dalits is incomplete. All the posts reserved for them are yet to be filled," she said.

The BSP president said she would write letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, seeking to know steps taken by the Centre to protect the interests of Dalits.

Asked about her recent questioning by the CBI in a DA case, Mayawati merely said, "Whatever I have to say I have said in Parliament."

On whether she had received any assurance from the Congress in connection with the case, she said, " I have not asked the Congress to do anything in the matter."