The Congress party has decided to withdraw support to the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh.

An announcement to this effect was made by UP Congress chief Salman Khurshid in Lucknow Wednesday evening. This comes close on the heels of parting of ways by another ally the Rashtriya Lok Dal led by Ajit Singh.

However, the withdrawal of support would not make any difference to the state government. The Congress has only 15 members in the UP state assembly out of 403, while RLD has 15.

Since the sitting strength of MLAs is 392, Mulayam requires 197 members for a majority. According to a spokesman of the state assembly, the chief minister enjoyed the support of 209 members and was therefore in a comfortable position even after the departure of both RLD and the Congress

Meanwhile, Mulayam already convened a special session of the house from Thursday . He also proposes to seek a vote of confidence later this month.