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Journalism of Courage
The Congress today joined the Samajwadi Party and the Left in demanding that the Uttar Pradesh Governor convene a special session of the state Assembly to test the strength of the Mayawati government but did not spell out why it hadn8217;t backed a SP-led government earlier.
Mayawati also came under attack from the Samata Party, a NDA member, for the manner in which her government was functioning. The Samata too demanded that the state Assembly be convened to test whether the Mayawati-led coalition still enjoyed majority in the House.
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Doors open for rebel UP legislators to return,
says Lalji Tandon |
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Participating in a Lok Sabha discussion initiated by him, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav demanded the removal of Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri and said the state was under an 8216;8216;undeclared Emergency8217;8217;. Shriprakash Jaiswal of the Congress had a swipe at the SP when he said the decline of UP began in 1989, the year Mulayam Singh first became chief minister of the state.
Claiming that the UP government had been reduced to a minority, he said ruling coalition MLAs who had revolted were now being called criminals. Turning towards the BSP and BJP benches, Jaiswal said, 8216;8216;Weren8217;t they with you all these years? Didn8217;t you give them tickets?8217;8217;
Earlier, opening the debate, Mulayam demanded that a Parliament delegation be sent to assess the situation in the state. Attacking the Governor for becoming 8216;8216;the custodian8217;8217; of the Mayawati government, he said the SP, at the Centre8217;s behest, was denied the chance to form the government though it had emerged as the single largest party in the elections.
Turning to Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Mulayam said the situation in Uttar Pradesh was deteriorating rapidly and it would soon become 8216;8216;more backward than Bihar and you will be responsible.8217;8217; Advani will reply to the discussion on Thursday.
Lamenting that 8216;8216;political ethos has reached its nadir8217;8217; and 8216;8216;opportunistic alliances8217;8217; were the order of the day, Somnath Chatterjee of the CPM reminded Advani that he himself had confessed party ideology was of little relevance in a coalition. The defence for the Mayawati government came from Rashid Alvi of the BSP, Minister of State for Law, Ravi Shankar Prasad. 8216;8216;Why doesn8217;t the Congress support the SP,8217;8217; Alvi shot back.
Prasad read out relevant paragraphs from the SC verdict in the Bommai case to reject the Opposition claim that the Governor was ignoring the verdict.
