New Delhi: Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday gave fresh hints that he was in the race for Prime Ministership if the next Lok Sabha poll throws up a hung Parliament. "We will not come to power (on our own). But we will give support to you or take support from you," he said in the Lok Sabha while opposing FDI in multi-brand retail.
A veteran in politics, the 73-year-old leader prefaced his remarks by saying that he knows it very well that the Samajwadi Party cannot win 273 seats (a simple majority in Lok Sabha). "We know our limits," he said.
His remarks came after he tried to impress upon the Congress not to go ahead with the move which would only harm it electorally and could bring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power as it has the backing of the RSS, which has presence in villages and knows how to exploit the issue.
Yadav had only a few days back appeared to keep open the option of joining the race for Prime Ministership in 2014. "I am not in the race for Prime Ministership....I was also not in the race of becoming chief minister but the situation gave me the post. It all depends (on the situation)," he had said in Lucknow a few days back when asked whether he was vying for the post of PM in 2014.
At one point in his speech, Yadav accused both the Congress and the BJP of being hand-in-glove to ensure power for either party and keep other parties like the SP away. He conceded that "we cannot repeat 1977", when the Janata Party had come to power for the first time ousting Congress in the post-Emergency elections.
Yadav, a former Defence Minister, could not become Prime Minister in the erstwhile United Front government 15 years back due to opposition by a section of the then Janata Dal leaders.
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