Cong playing double game with `Coalgate’ to oust Manmohan: SP

The Samajwadi Party (SP) headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, which is backing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre from outside, sees the goings on in Parliament as a Congress ploy to get Manmohan Singh ousted as prime minister and clear the way for Rahul Gandhi.

According to Samajwadi Party spokesman Mohan Singh, the non-stop disruption of Parliament by opposition BJP is, in fact, orchestrated by a section of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's own party.

He said, it was widely suspected among various parties outside the ruling alliance that the Congress is covertly trying to remove the prime minister to make way for Rahul Gandhi to assume power.

"Some people from inside Congress want to remove Manmohan Singh and bring in the Yuvraaj (crown prince). I wonder if this (BJP's demand for PM's resignation) is being played out from within Congress," the SP leader said.

Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi was quick to react, saying, "There can be no bigger false imagination than this."

He cited the Congress party manifesto for the 2009 elections that repeatedly suggested Manmohan Singh as the party's prime ministerial candidate. ''We have said this several times that he will continue to remain the prime minister till 2014," he stressed.