Chief Worry

Opposition leaders have accused Yadav of unprincipled motives when he tabled a confidence motion in the House on the day of reckoning, to pr...

IF the events of the past week in Uttar Pradesh are anything to go by, then Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is a man in a flurry. It is an uncertain future for Yadav in his last year in office despite a favourable judgment by the Lucknow Bench in the Allahabad High Court. On February, 28, 2006, the bench in a 2-1 majority refused to take a decision on the disqualification of the rebel 40 BSP MLAs and instead, directed the present Speaker to decide on the split and merger of the rebel BSP MLAs with Yadav8217;s Samajwadi Party. It was with the support of the 40-member group that Yadav came to power. Yet, an atmosphere of unease, confusion and intrigue still persists in Yadav8217;s court.

Barely two days after the judgment, the demolition game of splitting political groups and wooing MLAs began in full force8212;even as BSP legislators demanded the 40 rebel MLAs sit on its side in the Assembly, five ministers from Yadav8217;s Cabinet and one MLA from the rebel group, called the Lok Tantrik Bahujan Dal, declared they were going back to the parent party. But before the move became an exodus, the Speaker8217;s decision came to Yadav8217;s rescue. Mata Prasad Pandey declared the rebel group did indeed have a separate identity as he wanted to retain the 8216;8216;status quo8217;8217; of the House, as per the court judgment.

In the wake of allegations of a partisan Speaker by the Opposition, it is a caustic senior party leader and MP, Ram Gopal Yadav, also the CM8217;s cousin and confidant, who says the Speaker is right in recognising the group. 8216;8216;As far as we interpret the judgment, the court recognises the split. However, it has asked the Speaker to take the decision on the merger of the rebel group with us and the disqualification of MLAs from the House.8217;8217;

Party sources say, by recognising the rebels as a separate group, the Speaker has inadvertently brought the group under the scrutiny of the anti-defection law. In fact, say the sources, if the Speaker invites any complaints, the anti-defection law can be invoked against those who leave the group again and, therefore, the SP and align with the parent BSP the Opposition. Conversely, however, the acknowledgment of the group with its own identity could also invite a split, either in Yadav8217;s favour or to the Opposition8217;s advantage, say sources. 8216;8216;Everyone is up for grabs,8217;8217; says a party source.

THE past few months has seen a beleaguered Chief Minister who has tried to outwit, outmanoeuvre and checkmate the Opposition.

If the CM refused to promulgate the House since the Winter session in November 2005 to the present Budget session, fearing his government8217;s dismissal by the Governor it cannot be done when the House is in session; the Opposition is using every opportunity to discredit Yadav by exposing his 8216;8216;subversive tactics,8217;8217; and press for President8217;s Rule in the state.

Opposition leaders have accused Yadav of unprincipled motives when he tabled a confidence motion in the House on the day of reckoning, to pre-empt a no-trust motion in the wake of an adverse judgment8212;for barely had the court declared its judgment, and Yadav had already won a vote of confidence by 207 votes.

Says a defensive party chief whip in Parliament, MP Mohan Singh, 8216;8216;There is nothing immoral in asking for a trust vote on judgment day as there was so much political uncertainty. The Congress had threatened to move a no-confidence motion in the House if the judgment was adverse. Why should we face that vote, so we decided to bring our own motion.8217;8217;

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The SP leadership may take a defiant stance, but the party has been under unrelenting fire from all sides especially over the release of CDs allegedly containing embarrassing and incriminating telephone conversations of its most famous face, Rajya Sabha MP and industrialist Amar Singh. The taped conversations not only highlight the criminal-politician nexus but also puts the state administration and judiciary in a compromising position. Then came a public denouement by party colleague and Agra MP, Raj Babbar, where he called Singh, the closest confidant of the CM, 8216;8216;a wheeler-dealer and fixer.8217;8217; So, it was with self-righteous indignation that Babbar met Governor TV Rajeswar and presented him the contentious CDs containing Singh8217;s alleged conversations, in the wake of the court judgment.

Says a victorious Babbar, who now claims he stands vindicated after the week8217;s tumultuous events, 8216;8216;The way MLAs are moving from party to party in the last few days shows that UP politics is being governed by money and muscle power. I have been proved right that the party, from top to bottom, has become a slave of brokers and fixers who rule it.8217;8217; Babbar says he also apprised the Governor of the conversations in the tapes. 8216;8216;If they are genuine, this man Singh is even capable of creating communal riots to win elections.8217;8217;

In UP, it seems it is a season of plenty.