Three Oppn MLCs resign, clear the way for Adityanath and Co
MAJOR BLOW Resignations of two SP and one BSP legislators coincide with BJP chief Amit Shah’s visit to the state capital
LUCKNOW: Two legislators from the Samajwadi Party and one from the Bahujan Samaj Party resigned from the Uttar Pradesh legislative council on Saturday, virtually clearing the path for chief minister Yogi Adityanath to get a spot in the legislature without having to contest elections.
Adityanath, from the Bharatiya Janata Party, and four of his colleagues are currently not members of the Uttar Pradesh assembly.
They have two months to secure a membership of the House, which became easier on Saturday with the vacancies in the upper house.
In a bicameral structure such as UP’s, members to the upper house can be elected or nominated by the lower house where the Adityanath’s BJP enjoys a brute majority.
The members of legislative council (MLCs) who quit were Bukkal Nawab and Yashwant Singh from the SP and Thakur Jaiveer Singh from the BSP. The resignations coinciding with the visit of BJP chief Amit Shah to state capital Lucknow.
SP’s leader and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the BJP, accusing it of political corruption. “First they did it in Bihar, then broke the Con- gress in Gujarat, and now they have lured our MLCs,” Akhilesh said on the sidelines of a private function that he attended on Saturday.
Yadav accused Adityanath’s party of not having the courage to face the voters.
In a statement, BSP president Mayawati said the BJP’s “greed for power has turned into lust for power”.
The leaders who stepped down from SP are seen to be loyalists of Akhilesh’s father Mulayam and uncle Shivpal. Akhilesh had a bitter fall out with his father and uncle, and comments from the MLCs who quit suggest that they may join the BJP.
“The BJP government is doing good job. If BJP calls me, I will join it,” said Nawab. The resignations are a major blow to Akhilesh’s camp.
“He (Akhilesh) still has the opportunity. He should hand over party’s leadership to Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and move on. Or else, dissension will rise in the party,” warned Shivpal, hours after the MLCs resigned.
Shivpal reached Delhi on Saturday evening for a meeting with Mulayam and the two will be joined by Amar Singh.
LUCKNOW: The rebellion by former minister and senior leader Thakur Jaiveer Singh, who enjoys considerable hold among the upper caste voters in West UP, sent the BSP leadership in shock on Saturday.
Fearing more such resignations, BSP chief Mayawati held a meeting with senior party leaders in New Delhi and discussed the scenario. A senior Brahmin leader of the BSP and a Dalit politician are likely to switch loyalties. The BSP leaders in Legislative Assembly Lalji Verma and Legislative Council Sunil Chittor were directed to remain in touch with party legislature and keep a watch on their activities as well.
Sources said more BSP MLAs/ MLCs are in contact with the BJP and looking for an opportune moment to switch sides.
Senior leaders who have joined BJP from BSP such as Swami Prasad Maurya, Chaudhary Laxmi Narayan, Jugul Kishore, Dara Singh Chauhan and Brijesh Pathak have been entrusted with the task to win the support of BSP legislatures.
On Saturday, when Jaivir Singh submitted his resignation letter to chairman, legislative council, Ramesh Yadav, both Maurya and Narayan accompanied him.
Considered loyal to BSP chief, Singh was made minister when BSP grabbed power in 2007 assembly election. His wife contested Lok Sabha election on BSP ticket as well. He also headed the Thakur ‘bhaichara’ committee constituted by the BSP chief to woo the upper caste voters.
His rebellion will hit the BSP preparation in Aligarh region for the 2019 Lok Sabha election as the party has also lost an important upper caste face. The BJP has grabbed maximum assembly seats in the Aligarh region in 2017 assembly election and Jaivir Singh was also defeated.
“The BJP is not going to gain much with the joining of Singh but his desertion will hit the BSP hard,” said a political observer. After resigning from Rajya Sabha, Mayawati had planned to galvanise the party cadre that was feeling humiliated after defeats in 2012 assembly election, 2014 Lok Sabha election and 2017 assembly election.