Maya shield for cornered Speaker

With the state BJP and Chief Minister Mayawati saying yes to Assembly Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi and the Opposition crying no, the stage i...

With the state BJP and Chief Minister Mayawati saying yes to Assembly Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi and the Opposition crying no, the stage is set for a showdown during the Budget session, beginning February 28.

The Congress Legislature Party today served a notice to the Assembly Secretary stating it would bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker because ‘‘he has failed to upkeep moral values of the post he is holding at present’’.

BJP beefs up UP unit
New Delhi: The BJP high command on Friday decided to beef up the state unit. As the first step, it has picked up Nagendra Kumar as the general secretary (organisation) of the state BJP. The state organisation was till now divided into five zones — Gorakhpur, Kashi, Awadh, Brij and Western Uttar Pradesh — each handled by a general secretary (organisation). Kumar would oversee the entire state. — ENS

Story continues below this ad

The party has also requested Governor Vishnukant Shastri to send a message to the Assembly during the no-confidence debate and has requested the senior-most member of the House to act as a pro-tem Speaker during the process.

‘‘We have demanded that a secret ballot be conducted on the issue and two observers appointed by the Governor remain in the House to ensure that it is held properly,’’ said CLP leader Pramod Tiwari. He expressed hope that the Speaker would himself resign before the no-confidence motion.

‘‘Tripathi himself had said he would resign even if one member of the House expressed lack of confidence in him. Now, when the entire Opposition has given notice to table the no-confidence motion, he will not remain in the post,’’ Tiwari said.

After the split in Congress, the Opposition had blamed the Speaker for recognising the breakaway group when the actual number of MLAs was a third of the CLP’s strength. Tripathy had allegedly included one Akhilesh Singh whom he had himself declared an unattached member.

Story continues below this ad

‘‘The Speaker had not given a green signal to me during the previous Assembly session when I joined the Congress as an unattached member. The Speaker claimed at that time that an unattached member can’t be counted with the party’s strength but now to give validity to the split he has counted the unattached member and completed the one-third figure. Why the double standards?’’ asked a senior CLP member Jagdambika Pal.

While the Opposition is going all out against the Speaker, the BJP and the CM have come out in his defence.

‘‘Tripathi has a track record of discharging his duties in accordance with the Constitution. The BJP-BSP alliance will put up a brave fight to the no- confidence motion,’’ Mayawati says.