UP leaders opt for Vidhan Parishad

When five-time Lok Sabha member Yogi Adityanath was named the Uttar Pradesh chief minister in 2017, he took the Vidhan Parishad route to the assembly.

His decision to opt for Legislative Council instead of facing voters in a Vidhan Sabha, or people’s council, election was in line with that of his predecessors.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, too, preferred the safer Vidhan Parishad. In fact, Yadav is among the 13 members of legislative council (MLCs) whose term ends May 5.

“The leaders obviously don’t want to face the masses and instead go for an option that is without any risk. The Upper House has become an easy choice for the state’s leaders over the years,” said SK Dwivedi, former head of Lucknow University’s political science department.

Not just Yogi, his deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma and two of his ministers are MLCs.

The fear of uncertainty than an election brings is not unfounded. The BJP lost the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats that were vacated by Yogi and Maurya. But the losses are not unique to them or the BJP.

Chief minister Tribhuvan Narain Singh lost a by-election in January 1971 and was eventually forced to quit. “Credibility and popularity of leaders is on the decline. Leaders who lose credibility are bound to become unpopular,” Congress leader Ram Krishna Dwivedi, who defeated Narain Singh in the bypoll, said. He said in early years after independence, chief ministers used to be members of the assembly as they were not self-serving.

But even his then party colleague Narayan Dutt Tiwari chose to be an MLC when he was named the CM. Same for late Ram Prakash Gupta. With the election to the 13 seats due on April 26, more senior leaders are expected to head to the Vidhan Parishad.

LUCKNOW: