New Delhi: Inching closer to sealing a deal with the Congress to bail out the Government, Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday.
Briefing reporters outside PM’s 7, Race Course Road, Mulayam said their priority was national interest.
Expressing hope that other UNPA constituents would also accept SP position, Mulayam said they briefed the PM regarding their meeting with APJ Abdul Kalam.
SP General Secretary Amar Singh also made clear the SP has "not committed anything so far", to hold talks with UNPA leaders this evening.
“We did not meet anyone of any consequence regarding the politics of nuclear deal yesterday,” Amar Singh said, adding, “I did meet NSA who called me. Later, BJP leaders approached me and said we along with them, BSP and Left should help rout this government.”
The meeting comes a day after Yadav met former President A P J Abdul Kalam who endorsed the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying it is in the country's national interest. The SP leaders will also meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi later in the day.
Congress is seeking the support of the the SP which has 39 members in the Lok Sabha with the Left allies having 59 members getting ready to withdraw support to the Government if it went ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal.
On a day on hectic political activities, Yadav and party general secretary Amar Singh drove to the Race Course residence of the Prime Minister for talks aimed at clearing the decks for backing the government in Parliament.
Yadav's praise of Kalam and his statement that he would carry the former President's views to other constituents of the UNPA, who are opposed to the deal, is seen as a strong indication that the SP was not averse to doing a deal with the Congress-led UPA.
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