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Mulayam maths- Maya men do the addition: The Indian Express
Lucknow, Sept 06: As parties, factions sat down with their arithmetic homework to let rumour mongers have a field day, former BSP minister Amar Mani Tripathi, who`s in a tight spot in the Madhumita Shukla murder case, surfaced this afternoon at the Samajwadi Party office and told Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav that 40 BSP MLAs were ready to switch sides.
Lucknow, Sept 06: As parties, factions sat down with their arithmetic homework to let rumour mongers have a field day, former BSP minister Amar Mani Tripathi, who’s in a tight spot in the Madhumita Shukla murder case, surfaced this afternoon at the Samajwadi Party office and told Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav that 40 BSP MLAs were ready to switch sides.
Soon after he met Mulayam, Tripathi disappeared. Phone calls to him went unanswered and there was no one, barring a domestic help, at his Lawrence Terrace residence.
But Tripathi’s assurance to Mulayam had an echo in Haji Yaqub, former deputy minister in the Mayawati government and BSP MLA. He said a group of party legislators met today and were ready to part ways.
‘‘A split in the BSP will be formalised tomorrow with more than 40 legislators breaking away from the parent party,’’ Yaqub claimed, adding that they had even decided on a name for the new outfit: Loktantrik Bahujan Samaj Party.
The members of this group, he said, would meet Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi tomorrow ‘‘for personal verification’’ and, after electing their leader, would decide whether to merge with Samajwadi Party or remain a separate political entity.
But Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi told The Indian Express that neither the SP nor any BSP group had sought time for a meeting tomorrow. ‘‘None has approached me so far to seek time,’’ he said.
SP general secretary Amar Singh also arrived in Lucknow this evening to intensify Operation Majority. State SP chief Ram Saran Das claimed that the breakaway BSP group would comprise ‘‘more than 45 members.’’
Meanwhile, Swami Prasad Maurya, BSP legislature wing leader, has shot off a letter to President A P J Abdul Kalam with copies to Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and the Assembly Speaker, saying BSP MLAs were being harassed by the police to extend support to Mulayam Singh.
‘‘The BSP is intact except the flock of 13 against whom I had moved a petition for disqualification from the House. Legislators are being threatened, lucrative offers are also being made but there’s no chance of a split,’’ Maurya said.
But BSP rebels had something very different to say. ‘‘The rebel BSP legislators have decided to sever ties with Mayawati due to her autocratic style of functioning,’’ said Rajesh Singh Rana, BSP MLA from Saharanpur.
His colleague from Gonda, Yogesh Singh, said: ‘‘On September 8, Mulayam Singh Yadav will prove his majority comfortably. He will have the support of over 250 MLAs.’’
Chiraigaon BSP MLA Virendra Singh too confirmed that rebel MLAs had been holding meetings since morning.
‘‘All rebel BSP MLAs have one aim — to give the state a stable government under the leadership of Mulayam Singh Yadav.’’
But Tripathi’s assurance to Mulayam had an echo in Haji Yaqub, former deputy minister in the Mayawati government and BSP MLA. He said a group of party legislators met today and were ready to part ways.
‘‘A split in the BSP will be formalised tomorrow with more than 40 legislators breaking away from the parent party,’’ Yaqub claimed, adding that they had even decided on a name for the new outfit: Loktantrik Bahujan Samaj Party.
The members of this group, he said, would meet Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi tomorrow ‘‘for personal verification’’ and, after electing their leader, would decide whether to merge with Samajwadi Party or remain a separate political entity.
But Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi told The Indian Express that neither the SP nor any BSP group had sought time for a meeting tomorrow. ‘‘None has approached me so far to seek time,’’ he said.
SP general secretary Amar Singh also arrived in Lucknow this evening to intensify Operation Majority. State SP chief Ram Saran Das claimed that the breakaway BSP group would comprise ‘‘more than 45 members.’’
Meanwhile, Swami Prasad Maurya, BSP legislature wing leader, has shot off a letter to President A P J Abdul Kalam with copies to Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and the Assembly Speaker, saying BSP MLAs were being harassed by the police to extend support to Mulayam Singh.
‘‘The BSP is intact except the flock of 13 against whom I had moved a petition for disqualification from the House. Legislators are being threatened, lucrative offers are also being made but there’s no chance of a split,’’ Maurya said.
But BSP rebels had something very different to say. ‘‘The rebel BSP legislators have decided to sever ties with Mayawati due to her autocratic style of functioning,’’ said Rajesh Singh Rana, BSP MLA from Saharanpur.
His colleague from Gonda, Yogesh Singh, said: ‘‘On September 8, Mulayam Singh Yadav will prove his majority comfortably. He will have the support of over 250 MLAs.’’
Chiraigaon BSP MLA Virendra Singh too confirmed that rebel MLAs had been holding meetings since morning.
‘‘All rebel BSP MLAs have one aim — to give the state a stable government under the leadership of Mulayam Singh Yadav.’’