The decision to withdraw the "outside" support in the wake of Congress' efforts to impose President's rule in Uttar Pradesh was announced by Chief Minister and party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav at a meeting of senior party leaders and workers in Lucknow. 

The SP has 38 members in Lok Sabha and the withdrawal of support may not have an impact on the stability of the UPA government, which has the backing of more than 300 members in a House of 545.

Congress and SP have been having a love-hate relationship in the last more than two years when SP unilaterally offered support to the UPA government with the Congress party maintaining that it had not asked for.

Likewise, the Congress party was also extending outside support to the Yadav-led coalition government from August 2003 though attacking it on various fronts.

Yadav also made an appeal to the Left parties to withdraw their support to UPA government saying that the time has now come for that.

The SP had given support to the UPA to keep the communal forces at bay, Yadav said, adding that since the Congress-led government had joined hands with the same forces in the conspiracy to dismiss his government there was no point in continuing to support the UPA.

The Congress was in fact strengthening the communal forces, he alleged.

Looking towards senior party leaders, including party General Secretary Amar Singh seated at the dais, Yadav said that he could not consult them before taking the decision.

"I know you (party leaders) all will agree with my decision that there is no use to continue to support the UPA government," he said.

All the leaders on the dais nodded in agreement and declared that the support to the UPA government has been withdrawn.