M A I N   N E W S

SP MLAs quit en masse in UP

Lucknow, September 11
In an apparent attempt to force early elections in Uttar Pradesh, all 102 MLAs of the main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) today decided to resign en masse from the state Assembly, even as the Chief Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh, dismissed the move as a “pressure tactic” and ruled out an early dissolution of the House.

Of the 102 SP MLAs, 94 handed over their resignation letters to the Assembly Secretariat since the Speaker, Mr Kesri Nath Tripathy, was not in station, shortly after a meeting of the party legislature group here presided by the SP Supremo, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. The other eight members are to resign shortly.

The SP MLAs, led by Mr Yadav, met the Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, and submitted copies of their resignation, but was told that the gubernatorial office was not the appropriate forum for submission of resignations.

Mr Shastri, however, said he would be forwarding the resignation letters to the Assembly Speaker. He parried questions on whether there was any constitutional crisis in the state.

Mr Yadav said the decision to resign was in protest against the government’s alleged failure on the law and order front and its inability to tackle the flood and drought situation.

Mr Rajnath Singh said there was no constitutional crisis in the state and that the Assembly poll would be held as scheduled.

The opposition parties have been demanding elections in October saying that the term of the House ends that month while the state government maintains that the term of the state Assembly is due to expire only in March.

The Congress termed the resignation as a “hasty step” while the BJP leadership in Delhi said the SP MLAs were resorting to “undemocratic and negative” methods.

The resignation came just a day after the Election Commission said the Assembly elections in UP were due in March, 2002.

Meanwhile, the formal acceptance of the resignation of the MLAs is still awaited from Washington where the Speaker is on a visit.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader, Ms Mayawati, has demanded the resignation of the Rajnath Singh government and fresh elections in the state. PTI, UNI