Though it does not favour playing hardball with the UPA government, Samajwadi Party wants the Congress-led coalition to make certain changes in its policies keeping in mind the fact that general elections are round the corner.

Senior SP leader and Lok Sabha MP from Deoria, Mohan Singh told PTI on Tuesday that "the government should make certain basic changes in its policies, especially those related to farmers, as general elections are not far away".

He said the party would be holding the meeting of its national committee in August, where it would discuss issues that need to be focussed on during the run-up to the polls.

"Once we come up with a list of such issues, these would be taken up with the government so that they can be added in the common minimum programme (CMP)," Singh said.

"The finance minister keeps referring to speeding up of economic reforms, but what does this mean has to be explained to the common man, mainly the farmers," he said.

The senior SP leader added that though the government had announced its ambitious loan waiver scheme in the Union Budget earlier this year, "it would have to be explained to farmers during the elections".

Denying that SP would be applying any pressure on the UPA government to implement the CMP, Singh said the "party does not believe in politics of pressure and blackmail.

"We only want the government to keep the people in mind while implementing its policies, and that is why we call for subtle changes in the CMP".

Singh denied that SP has any plan to join the government. "We have no such intentions," he said.