Journalism of Courage
WHEN Uttar Pradesh MLAs assemble on the floor of the Vidhan Sabha on Monday, the House will — for first time in the last four years — witness the presence of several MLAs, including the leader of Opposition, in changed camps.
This comes after over a dozen MLAs switched over to other parties during the last two months. The Monsoon Session of the Assembly is likely to continue till August 30. While BSP MLA from Padrauna and Leader of Opposition Swami Prasad Maurya joined BJP on August 8, three days later, Congress’ Rudhauli MLA Sanjay Pratap Jaiswal, Khadda MLA Vijay Kumar Dubey and Nanpara MLA Madhuri Verma joined BJP. Congress had expelled six MLAs, including these three, for anti-party activities after they cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections in UP in June.
Two BSP MLAs, Bala Prasad Awasthi of Mohammadi and Rajesh Tripathi of Chillupar, too had joined BJP on August 11 along with SP’s Jalalpur MLA Sher Bahadur. Three more expelled Congress MLAs — Mohd Muslim of Tiloi, Dilnawaz Khan of Syana and Kazim Ali Khan Swar — had joined BSP on August 10. SP MLA from Budhana in Muzaffaranagar, Nawazish Alam Khan, joined BSP the same day.
“It would be interesting to see the sitting arrangements of the turncoats. Some MLAs from Congress and SP, who had been speaking against BJP, would be seen seated with the saffron outfit,” said an official of the Vidhan Sabha secretariat.
