Bleak House

It would perhaps be frivolous to imagine Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav appointing an officer simply to keep track of the numbers in the state Assembly.

It would perhaps be frivolous to imagine Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav appointing an officer simply to keep track of the numbers in the state Assembly. But that is how difficult it has become to pin down the 403 members and their political affiliations. Take this factoid: Of the 13 members disqualified by the Supreme Court on February 15, 11 were from the 33-member Loktantrik Bahujan Dal LBD, whereas two were the part of five other MLAs who once defected from the BSP, joined the Samajwadi Party, then went back to BSP and were enjoying the status of unattached but without any right to vote. Makes sense? Exactly.

Now look at the House at a time when elections are round the corner. Two seats are vacant, 13 members face disqualification, four members are attending the assembly sessions only after availing special permission from jail authorities, six have been given the status of being unattached to any party and seven enjoy Vidhan Sabha membership without the right to vote, and six members of the BJP who had been kicked out of the party but continued to remain its primary members are unattached but have the right to vote.

That is the current status of the MLAs. One does not know what might happen next. The numbers and status of the members keep changing with some speed making it difficult for many to keep pace with. Every time the House is convened, the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat comes up with a new list which has new variations.

On January 25, when Mulayam won the confidence vote, the party situation was like this: The ruling SP had 152 members, BJP 83, BSP 67, LBD 33, RLD 15, Congress 15, Independents 16, others 5, nominated 1, unattached 6 and members with no voting rights 9.

But 10 members of the BJP, four of BSP and three of RLD cross-voted in favour of the the ruling party. Besides, 14 independents and 6 unattached suspended from the BJP also came on the side of the treasury benches. Twenty from the LBD, the BSP rebel group, also voted for Mulayam.

No wonder very few seem able to make sense of the situation arising out of the Supreme Court8217;s verdict. Opposition Leader Lalji Tandon of the BJP says that the January confidence move has lost its meaning since LBD members who voted for Mulayam are now disqualified by the Supreme Court. He also says that since the unattached MLAs were primary members of the BJP, their vote for the government should be considered as a defection.

The House next meets on February 26 and there8217;s bound to be bedlam. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has already set the cat among the pigeons with her contention that the 24 BSP rebels against whom the Supreme Court did not give any clear directives stood disqualified from their original act.

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The BJP may also petition the Speaker to restrict the rights of those MLAs who either cross-voted on January 25 or who have been disqualified by the Supreme Court. Tandon says there are around 50 such MLAs, including the 24 from the LBD and 25 others who violated the party whip during the confidence vote. At least that number will remain stable till a decision is taken.