Maya re-elected,BSP strength up

Those of the BSP are Mayawati,Satish Chandra Jatav,Rishipal,Ram Kumar Kuriel,Subodh Parashar,Mohammad Athar Khan,Lalchand Nishad and Virendra Kumar Chauhan.

The SP members are Balram Yadav,Ram Sunder Das Nishad and Yashwant Singh while the BJP candidate is Hriday Narain Dikshit. The lone Congress candidate elected is Naseeb Pathan.

Mayawati was,however,not present to receive the certificate of election issued by the returning officer. The certificate was received on her behalf by senior minister Babu Singh Kushwaha.

With this election,the ruling BSP has increased its tally in the Legislative Council from 57 to 65,while the main Opposition Samajwadi Party’s strength has come down to 12 from 14 as only 3 members have been able to retain their seats.

In the Council,38 members are elected from the state Assembly constituency,36 from the urban and rural local bodies constituency,eight from the teachers’ constituency,eight from the graduates’ constituency and 10 are nominated by the Governor or on the chief minister’s advice.

Those retiring on July 6 are Anwar Ahmed,Yashwant Singh,Ram Asrey Vishwakarma,Ramnaresh Yadav and Subash Chandra Yadav from the SP,Jai Prakash Chaturvedi and Swantatradev Singh from BJP,Narendra Kumar Kashyap and Mayawati from BSP,Munna Singh Chauhan and Hari Singh Dhillon of RLD and Naseeb Pathan of the Congress.

50.5% voting in Domariyaganj by-polls
An estimated 50.50 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise during the Domariyaganj Assembly by-election which passed off peacefully on Thursday.

State Chief electoral officer(CEO) Umesh Sinha said except for some minor complaints by the representatives of political parties,there was no untoward incident during the polling.

The by-election was caused by the death of BSP member Taufiq Ahmed. The BSP has fielded his widow Khatun Taufiq as its candidate.

During the 2007 elections,Taufiq Ahmed had won the seat by a slender margin of 973 votes,when he defeated Mallik Kamal Yusuf of the Samajwadi Party. This time too,Kamal Yusuf is the SP candidate. The Congress had fielded Ashok Kumar Singh.

The counting of votes will be held on June 7.