Live: BJP predicts early polls as Cong, SP rift widens - Firstpost

11. 35 am: Govt will not continue till 2014, says JD(U) Amidst the growing rift between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, now JD(U) has also predicted early Lok Sabha elections. JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav told reporters, "I don't think government will continue till 2014." However, Yadav said that though Mulayam Sing is angry, he will not withdraw support. 11. 10 am: Mid-term polls likely, says BJP Calling the UPA government 'unstable', BJP leader Balbir Punj said that mid-term polls are likely. "Fact is that there is now an unstable government, which is why various people are speculating on mid-term polls. This government has lost the mandate to rule. Its numbers in the Lok Sabha are suspect. Predict mid-term polls," he said. 11. 05 am: Akhilesh Yadav, Chidambaram share stage in UP Amidst warnings by the SP to the UPA government, Finance Minister P Chidambaram was seen sharing the stage with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at a function in Lucknow. Chidambaram and Akhilesh Yadav share a stage at a function in Lucknow. Photo: ibnlive 10:50 am: Mulayam Singh says LS election could be held in November With the rift between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party out in the open, SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav has said that Lok Sabha elections could be held as early as November. Addressing party workers in Lucknow, Yadav had said: "I have come to know about a confidential report which says that elections will be held in November. You people start preparing for them." 10. 00 am: Congress asks Mulayam to pick a side The Congress hit back at SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav 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 in 2012. It asked Yadav, whose party is supporting government from outside, to decide whether he was with secular or communal forces as it questioned his praise for BJP veteran LK Advani. "We do not want to comment on the remarks of Mulayam Singh Yadav. He, himself, can explain it best. But only a few months back, Yadav shared the dais with the Prime Minister when the UPA's report card on its three-year performance was released (last May). "Now all of a sudden, he is criticising Congress and its leadership and appreciating LK Advani and the NDA, whereas the fact is Advani and other BJP leaders had a role in the demolition of Babri Masjid and the communal riots at Ahmedabad and Godhra that took place during NDA rule," party spokesperson Rashid Alvi told PTI. 9. 00 am: PM acknowledges possibility of SP withdrawing support With outside ally Samjawadi Party breathing fire in the last few days, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday acknowledged the possibility of its withdrawal of support to UPA but ruled out any threat to his government or early elections. Vowing not to allow coalition compulsions to derail the reforms, he said government is confident of pushing ahead with the reforms that matter and that are going to yield results in the next few months. Singh also appeared not to rule himself out of the race for Prime Ministership after the next Lok Sabha elections. "Well, obviously coalitions face issues. Sometimes, they give the impression that these arrangements are not not very stable arrangements and I cannot deny that such possibilities don't exist", the Prime Minister said. "But I am confident that our government will complete full five years, that the next election to the Lok Sabha will be held on schedule (in 2014)," Singh told reporters accompanying him on his return from a four-day visit to Durban in South Africa", he added. via Top Stories - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFdLaWf2VGSOGZmvqRMvekILgcnxQ&url=http://www.firstpost.com/politics/live-bjp-predicts-early-polls-as-cong-sp-rift-widens-678653.html

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