BSP gets invitation to PM's dinner

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's celebratory dinner on Tuesday for UPA allies and supporting parties will provide an occasion to present a line-up for the presidential polls, with the Bahujan Samaj Party also being invited.

“Yes, I received a telephone call,” BSP’s Ilyas Azmi, who plans to attend the function, said. This is not the first time the BSP has been asked to join the celebration. “I was there last year and I will go this time as well,” he added.

After the BSP’s victory in UP, Mayawati's party is in a position to influence the election of a new president, even if it cannot install its own candidate. Since the UPA is only slightly ahead of the NDA in the electoral college that elects the president, the role of the BSP becomes important. The party has 24 MPs in Parliament, including Mayawati and close associate Satish Misra. There is no indication either of them will come.

The Left, on its part, will only attend the dinner and not the function where the government will release its report.