Maya woos MLAs: join BSP, bag ministerial berths

Her open offer was a clear indication she was leaving nothing to chance, positioning herself well in advance of a no-confidence motion which the Congress and Samajwadi Party plan to bring against her in the Budget session. The two parties stayed away from the oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhavan, saying whatever was happening was ‘‘undemocratic and against prevailing norms.’’

Incidentally, the BJP too was missing. BJP leaders have been at loggerheads with Mayawati over the slapping of POTA against Kunda legislator Raghuraj Pratap Singh a.k.a Raja Bhaiyya and his father Uday Raj Singh. State BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Vinay Katiyar have been very vocal in their criticism of Mayawati.

But today’s changes suggested she had tightened her grip on her flock. Of the 13 ministers from the BSP who were made to turn in their papers to the Governor this morning, only four were taken back. Stripped of their independent charge, they will now simply be ministers of state.

‘‘We have nothing to say. We are ready to serve the party in any capacity Behenji (Mayawati) thinks fit,’’ was all that one of the legislators who lost his ministerial berth could say.

On the other hand, the four from the ABCD, who joined the BSP on Monday, were made ministers of state with independent charge. The other four who remain in the ABCD have also promised her support.

‘‘We have already announced unconditional support to the Mayawati government. Those from our group who have joined the BSP have not snapped ties with us,’’ claimed Akhilesh Singh, the man who led the eight out of the Congress last week.

Those made ministers today are Kazim Ali, son of Rampur Congress MP Noor Bano, Shyam Narain, Kameshwar Upadhyaya and Virendra Singh Bundela. And Mayawati had her own version to offer: the four joined her party on their own but she saw no harm in engineering splits in other parties. ‘‘If splitting a party can be an option for others, why can’t we do it?’’

She also said that the murder of a key police witness in the case against Raja Bhaiyya only went to show how right she was in invoking POTA. ‘‘The murder has established that a reign of terror exists in Kunda.’’

She claimed there were no differences with BJP over the POTA issue. ‘‘Katiyar told me how he had been misquoted by the media.’’ The state BJP chief, who skipped the Raj Bhavan ceremony, refused comment: ‘‘I am observing a week-long silence on issues concerning the UP govt.’’