Tussle between MPs, MLAs: Where does the shoe pinch?
LUCKNOW: The shoe fight between two BJP lawmakers over their name on a plaque for a development project in UP’s Sant Kabir Nagar on Wednesday is not a one-off affair but a manifestation of long-standing tension brewing between MPs and MLAs cutting across party lines.
During the UP Budget session that concluded on February 18, the MLAs raised the issue of supremacy of MPs in the approval of development projects in various constituencies.
Several legislators including Surendra Singh (BJP), Abrar Ahmed (SP), Ajay Kumar Lallu (Congress), Anil Singh (BSP), Triveni Ram (SBSP) raised the issue on the floor of the house.
The MLAs alleged they had submitted a list of development projects to the district planning committee in their respective constituencies for approval but the projects had been dropped or merged with those of the MPs.
Drawing the attention of assembly Speaker Hriday Narain Diskhit towards the issue, the MLAs said the state government should ensure that development works approved by them should be given priority and the MPs should be restrained from merging or getting their projects scrapped on the ground of duplication.
The Speaker directed parliamentary
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The BJP has set for itself the target of 74 seats in the LS election. If there is a lack of coordination between the MPs and MLAs, securing victory in the crucial electoral battle will be difficult for the party
AK MISHRA, Political Analyst
affairs minister Suresh Khanna to look into the matter.
Deputy chief minister and PWD minister Keshav Prasad Maurya told the house that there was no discrimination between the MPs and MLAs in approval of projects. “The officers have been directed to put the names of the MPs as well as the MLAs on plaques of newly-constructed roads and bridges,” he said.
However, the shoe fight and heated exchange between BJP MP from Sant Kabir Nagar Sharad Tripathi and MLA from Mehdawal Rakesh Singh Baghel over credit for a project has brought the larger issue to the fore.
A senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said the tension between party MPs and MLAs had been brewing since the formation of the BJP government in UP in March 2017.
“The tussle between party MPs and MLAs to take credit for development projects has now intensified,” he said.
He said a heated exchange of words had taken place in Sitapur last year between BJP MP from Dhaurahara seat Rekha Verma and party MLA from Maholi (Sitapur) Shashank Trivedi in a meeting of the Sitapur district planning committee.
The supporters of the MPs and MLAs clashed on the premises of the district collectorate. After the incident, the party leadership had warned Verma and Tripathi.
The leader said heated exchange of words was also reported between BJP MPs and MLAs in Ballia, Mahoba, Unnao, Shravasti, Bahraich, Lakhimpur, Jaunpur, Saharanpur, Banda and Barabanki districts.
“In view of the Lok Sabha elections, the party has given an upper hand to MPs in the launch of development projects. The MLAs have been directed to support the MPs by organising campaigns to highlight the development works of the government,” he said. He added that the officers in all the districts were also giving preference to development projects promoted by the MPs.
In the past, the MLAs have also raised the issue with chief minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP president Amit Shah.
To sort out the issue, the state government decided that the development projects would be cleared by both the MP and the MLA concerned and the document submitted to the government department should carry the signatures of both.
Political analyst AK Mishra said exchange of blows between the BJP lawmakers had maligned the image of the party that boasts of having a disciplined cadre.
“The BJP has set for itself the target of 74 seats in the coming Lok Sabha election. If there is a lack of coordination between the MPs and MLAs, securing victory in the crucial electoral battle will be difficult for the party. The rival political parties have already launched a scathing attack on the BJP,” he said.