M A I N   N E W S

LCP splits, Agrawal expelled
S.S. Sharma new party leader

Lucknow, August 11
The breakaway group of the Loktantrik Congress Party today expelled LCP president Naresh Agrawal from the party and unanimously elected Mr Shyam Sunder Sharma as the leader of the LCP Legislative Party.

Briefing newspersons after a meeting, senior LCP leader and minister Amar Mani Tripathi said that the party deferred election of the president for two days.

He claimed that 17 of the 19 LCP MLAs, all ministers, had extended support to the breakaway group, which he described as the real LCP.

The LCP leader said while 15 MLAs were present at the meeting, the other two — Mr Vinay Pandey and Mr Bachcha Pathak, had met Chief Minister Rajnath Singh and expressed solidarity with his government.

Meanwhile, Mr Agrawal was also busy holding a meeting here to chalk out his future strategy.

He indicated his inclination towards the Samajwadi Party.

Mr Agrawal said he had already talked to SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav and decided upon the common agenda against the BJP.

While playing down his expulsion from the party by a breakaway group, Mr Agrawal said he still led the ‘‘real LCP ’’, claiming support of four MLAs and three MLCs, he said the entire organisation was behind him.

Cracks had surfaced within the LCP yesterday after Mr Agrawal announced withdrawal of party support to the BJP-led government in the state as a reaction to the Chief Minister’s move to sack him from the Cabinet.

The LCP was formed in 1997 after a group walked out of the Congress to support the then Kalyan Singh-led government.

Meanwhile, the 19-member LCP, a key partner in the BJP-led coalition government in Uttar Pradesh, appeared to be on the verge of a split with a majority of its ministers backing Chief Minister Rajnath Singh after his sacking of Mr Agrawal.

As many as 13 LCP MLAs, all ministers, today met the Chief Minister and pledged their support to the government, saying that the decision to withdraw the LCP’s support to the government was taken by Mr Agrawal was “unilateral” which did not have majority support, Mr Tripathi said.

Even as Mr Agrawal, who was sacked yesterday on the issue of growing power crisis in the state, returned to Lucknow today, his detractors met and informally decided to expel him. A new leader would be elected in his place, a senior party leader said.

Meanwhile, the nine-member Lok Dal, headed by Mr Ajit Singh, extended its support to Mr Rajnath Singh.

With lack of support for Mr Agrawal from his LCP group, the Chief Minister appeared to have staved off any major threat to his 10-month-old government. UNI, PTI