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The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday asserted that "moneybags, blackmarketeers and powerbrokers" would not be allowed to destabilise the Mayawati-led coalition government in Uttar Pradesh.
Party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the Samajwadi Party had failed to form a government even after two months of the assembly polls.
"Consequently, a frustrated Samajwadi Party is trying to push Uttar Pradesh towards midterm polls, which will not be allowed," he said in New Delhi.
He claimed that the Samajwadi Party delegation, led by general secretary Amar Singh, which went to the Raj Bhavan to meet Governor Vishnukant Shastri, could not even furnish the name of a single Bharatiya Janata Party legislator who had withdrawn support to the government.
However, on Thursday, 12 BJP legislators had approached the governor to claim that they had ditched the BJP-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance.
Taking a dig at the BJP's rivals, he said, "When (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi is sought to be made the prime minister, the Samajwadi Party rakes up the foreigner issue. When the BJP forms the government, it remembers secularism."
"The BSP-BJP government in UP is working for social harmony and the development of the people, which is why the frustrated Samajwadi Party is trying to destabilise it," he said, adding it was the primary goal of his party to ensure the government's stability.
Later, Naqvi said the UP unit of the BJP was handling the crisis and was regularly briefing the high command, including party chief M Venkaiah Naidu.
"The moneybags will be countered. I cannot tell you how," he said.
Responding to a question, Naqvi said a legislator could be susceptible to the provisions of the anti-defection law if he tried to cross over.
He said a Member of Legislative Assembly and a Member of Legislative Council, against whom the party leadership had taken action on disciplinary grounds, could forego their membership of the assembly.
"I will not discuss the anti-defection law with you. Suffice to say that we are making all efforts to preserve the stability of the state government," Naqvi said.
"Today, we (the BSP-BJP alliance) are in majority and that is where the matter stands," he said, adding that contrary to a report, senior BJP leader Kushabhau Thakre was still very much in Lucknow.
The high command had sent Thakre to persuade the dissidents to discontinue their anti-party activities. The report had claimed that after returning to Delhi, Thakre had given an adverse report about the dissidents to the high command.
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