Mulayam marches with Left, avoids sharing stage with BJP during shutdown-India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose support is crucial to the survival of the Congress-led UPA Government following the Trinamool Congress' decision to withdraw support to the ruling coalition, held a separate protest with Left leaders at the Jantar Mantar here on Thursday over FDI and diesel price hike. However, Mulayam, who courted arrest, avoided sharing stage with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders giving indications that he may ponder over providing support to the UPA coalition. Initial reports suggests that he would remain on his home turf of Lucknow to protest against the new reforms introduced by the Central Government but later he decided to court arrest in Delhi, where Left leaders and the BJP have organized large demonstrations. Left leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury have joined Mulayam in his protest march at the Jantar Mantar. Samajwadi Party has so far raised objections to the reforms announced by the government last week. Yadav's party has 22 MPS, three more than TMC's Mamata Banerjee. But his party has said it will not join the government, and that it will decide in the next few weeks whether to continue external support to the coalition. "The Samajwadi Party, which has so far raised objections to the wrong policies of the UPA Government, would decide on its next plan of action," said SP General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav. Ram Gopal Yadav also defended the move to support the nationwide shutdown over Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi brand retail and diesel price hike. "It was on the inspiration of Samajwadi Party that all Left and other parties came together. It was NDA that later demanded for the rollback and called for the shutdown," he said. "We will continue to protest all day today and also in the future," he added. Trinamool Congress, the second biggest constituent of the UPA with 19 MPs, dealt a major blow to the Manmohan Singh Government when it decided to withdraw its support on the issue of petroleum price hike, FDI in retail and corruption. The TMC's decision brings the UPA's effective strength in the 545-seat Lok Sabha from 273 to 254, which is slightly below the halfway mark. The ruling Congress Party is likely to rope in either the Samajwadi Party (SP) or Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), both of which extend outside legislative support to the UPA regime.