In a new political development, Finance Minister P Chidambaram assured all financial help to the Akhilesh Yadav Government in order to woo the Samajwadi Party and its Supremo Mulaym Singh Yadav while congress and SP have been accusing one another for their political integrity.
Chidambaram shared a dais with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday and praised him while inaugurating 300 Bank branches in the state.
The Finance Minister said, “Akhilesh is a young Chief Minister. He has started his career well. He and his team will do the best to bring Uttar Pradesh up in every single way. I assure the Chief Minister that the Government of India is committed to stand by Uttar Pradesh in its development.”
Chidambaram also noted that UP has large financial needs. “This morning the CM and officials sat with me and went over a number of proposals. I promised them that when I get back to Delhi, I would look into each of the proposals,” he said.
Support Independent Journalism? Keep us live.
“In about one or two weeks, we will be able to get an idea where the proposal stand after that I will invite the CM to come and meet us in Delhi,” he added.
The Finance Minister’s statement assumes significance in the context of repeated attacks by SP leader Mulayam Singh against the Congress and UPA government triggering speculation whether it would withdraw support.
However, the Congress on Thursday hit back at SP chief Mulayam Singh for accusing it of being “cheat and clever” as it reminded him that he had shared the dais with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when the UPA’s report was released last year.
While Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is on the verge to end the longstanding partnership with the BJP and speculations are rising about the early polls, the Finance Minister has reached out to the Samajwadi party to construct a new and stable coalition at the centre.