BJP gets some good news from Lucknow: wedding, more deals

Shastri immediately recommended the revocation of President’s rule, imposed on March 8. Mayawati will probably be sworn in as chief minister on May 4.

‘‘Mayawati will have to prove her majority within three weeks of the swearing-in,’’ Shastri said. In a House of 403, with an effective strength of 399, Mayawati has 101 MLAs including three independents; the BJP has 88 MLAs plus eight MLAs from its allied parties, while the RLD has 14 MLAs.

Mayawati and former chief minister Rajnath Singh later addressed a joint press conference, where Rajnath pledged his party’s support in ensuring that the coalition government lasted its full term.

Mayawati, on her part, denied that the BJP had ever demanded the post of deputy chief minister or chairmanship of the proposed coordination committee. She clarified that while she would be chairman of the committee, the Speaker would be from among the BJP.

Though all roads led to Mayawati’s official residence at the Mall Avenue in Lucknow today, the chief minister-in-waiting stayed behind heavily guarded gates, through which only party legislators and select government officials could enter. In the afternoon, Mayawati convened a meeting of BSP legislators this afternoon where, said sources, the MLAs were read a list of do’s and dont’s.

‘‘We are waiting for the oath taking ceremony because after that, many of us hope to get a berth in her ministry. She has already made it clear that representation to the Cabinet will be proportionate to the number of legislators from among the coalition partners. The BSP has the maximum MLAs,’’ a party legislator told The Indian Express.

Signs of Mayawati’s bounce-back to power are already evident all over Lucknow: Ambekar Park, her pet project during her last stint in power in 1997, has got a fresh coat of paint. The marble statue of Bhim Rao Ambedkar within the park has been scrubbed cleaned, as have been other structures built during her tenure. The Parivartan Chowk, a huge crossing decorated with black marble at Hazratganj, was also being vigorously cleaned and cleansed by the Lucknow Development Authority on Sunday.

But there are several worried brows among the shiny happy faces: the state’s bureaucrats are already bracing for Mayawati to wield the transfer broom. In 1997, she shifted 100 IAS and IPS officials within four days of taking oath. During her six-month tenure, Mayawati transferred 1,419 officials, including 467 IAS and IPS officers.

And though Rajnath and Mayawati were the picture of solidarity at the joint press conference today, the animosity between the two is an open secret, especially after he engineered the split within the BSP after she withdrew support to the then Kalyan Singh government in October 1997. Despite being leader of the BJP legislature party,

Rajnath did not accompany Mayawati and some BJP leaders to the Governor’s house to stake her claim. Rajnath reached there earlier and handed over his party’s letter of support to Shastri.