Katiyar cuts rot, Maya flexes muscle

The BJP high command finally struck at the UP rebels today. Armed with ‘documentary evidence’ to seek their disqualification from...

The BJP high command finally struck at the UP rebels today. Armed with ‘documentary evidence’ to seek their disqualification from the assembly, the high command shrugged off their mercy plea, convinced that it was a result of their besieged state rather than a change of heart.

After BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu gave them the nod today, following the green signal from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani last night, BJP Legislature Party leader and Urban Development Minister Lalji Tandon, accompanied by state party president Vinay Katiyar, petitioned UP assembly speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi for disqualification of the 10 MLAs who had proposed the candidature of Suresh Nanda for the Rajya Sabha.

‘‘There would be no threat to the Mayawati government even if the 10 MLAs are unseated,’’ Naidu told journalists in New Delhi.

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Tandon argued that by proposing the name of an independent, the rebel MLAs had attracted the provisions of disqualification under the Anti-Defection Act. They should, accordingly, be disqualified from the assembly, he said. Later, he told the Press at Lucknow that they had requested the Speaker to expedite the matter so that the 10 legislators may not be able to vote even in the Vidhan Parishad elections.

The 10 MLAs are: Kovid Kumar Singh, Mayankeshwar Singh, Ravindra Pundir, Anil Verma, Dayashankar Verma, Narendra Verma, Ram Pratap Singh, Ganga Bhakt Singh, Badshah Singh and Chandrakant Mani Singh.

The Speaker later said he would take action on the BJP petition only after studying it. It was the first case of its kind in the state, he added.

Katiyar told The Indian Express: ‘‘We are watching the activities of some MLCs too. We may take similar action against them, if needed.’’

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The rebels described the BJP move as a ‘‘big mistake’’ which would only make them step up their campaign. Bhajpa Bachao Samiti convenor Ganga Bhakt Singh told journalists at Lucknow, in the presence of all the MLAs concerned: ‘‘It would not affect our campaign and we would also give our petition to the Speaker in this regard. We would also approach the court, if needed.’’

Samiti spokesman Ramasheesh Rai declared while talking to The Indian Express that ‘‘a majority of the dissident MLAs will not go to Delhi’’ to meet senior party leaders in the wake of the latest developments. He said only Shiva Kant Ojha was keen on meeting the central leaders. Naidu, when asked if any meeting with the rebels was on the cards, said ‘‘any BJP member is free to meet a party functionary’’ through ‘‘normal channels.’’