LUCKNOW, 28 October — Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s latest offensive seems to have put rebel legislators of the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) off the path of truce offered by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
A criminal case was lodged Saturday against Raghuraj Pratap Singh, the leader of a group of defiant independent legislators in the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-BJP coalition.
The independents as well as rebel BJP legislators were angered by Mayawati’s decision to leave them out of a Cabinet expansion on Oct. 11.
Now the case against Singh has come as a setback to the BJP legislators as well, even as Vajpayee’s willingness to meet them for a dialogue was conveyed to them.
The offer of Vajpayee was seen as a major climb down by the party’s national leadership as he had refused to meet them during a trip to the state last week.
Ganga Bhakt Singh, leader of the BJP rebel legislators, said, "How can you now expect anyone to agree on dialogue when the government is resorting to vindictive action against those who want to raise their voice in a democratic manner." Eight independent legislators withdrew support to the five-month-old government Friday.
The combined BJP-BSP tally has dropped to 210, giving the ruling coalition a slim eight-seat majority.
The BJP has 88 legislators in the 422-member state assembly. Last week 27 of them rebelled against the chief minister because they were not included in the state Cabinet.
The opposition Samajwadi Party, with 142 legislators, has begun talks with other opposition parties like the Congress party aimed at ousting the Mayawati government. Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav late yesterday met Sonia in New Delhi to try and cobble together an alternative government in Uttar Pradesh.
"We had good talks lasting 40 minutes and they were cordial," Mulayam said of his parleys with Sonia.
Mulayam said although he sought Sonia’s support, it was for the Congress to come forward and help his party try and put up an alternative arrangement to the current ruling coalition in the state.
"We are hopeful of a solution," he said without elaborating.
The group also hopes to woo ruling BJP and BSP legislators to break away from the coalition. Should the 27 rebel BJP legislators do so, the state government will fall.
Singh, leader of the independent legislators, better known as Raja Bhaiyya, is the scion of the erstwhile princely family of Kunda, a subdivision in Pratapgarh district, about 140 km from here.
He has repeatedly been in the spotlight reportedly due to his continued control in Kunda that remains like his private fiefdom. The Pratapgarh police Saturday registered a case of extortion and criminal conspiracy against him and his father, Uday Pratap Singh.
They were alleged to be extorting revenue from their "subjects". The case was registered on the basis of a month-old complaint by a local MP.
While Pratapgarh police had found nothing serious in the complaint so far, the heat was turned against the father and son reportedly after a diktat from Mayawati’s office.
Not only were the cases made out within hours Saturday, but also police recorded the evidences of over 20 witnesses on a single day.
