Rebels count heads, to launch party

With the Samajwadi Party going in for a state-wide agitation, the dissidents in the BJP have also decided to launch a final offensive agains...

With the Samajwadi Party going in for a state-wide agitation, the dissidents in the BJP have also decided to launch a final offensive against Mayawati and her government. In consultation with the Independents, the rebels will soon finalise their future course of action. ‘‘Doors for a reconciliation have been closed on us. We are holding a meeting and our number could swell to the extent that we can form a separate group in the House without attracting provisions of the Anti-Defection Act,’’ said suspended BJP MLC Ramashees Rai.

The leader of the dissident group, Ganga Bhakti Singh, had also met the Governor on Sunday to press for his intervention into the manner in which a section of the legislators were being harassed by the police. ‘‘We have apprised with the Governor about the measures the Mayawati government is trying to take against the MLAs who have expressed no confidence in her government,’’ he said.

While Rai hinted at forming a separate group with required numbers to counter the Anti-Defection Act, jailed leader of Independents Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya even named the new outfit: ‘‘Nearly 35 BJP legislators have decided to form an outfit — Rashtrawadi Bhartiya Janata Party — and the announcement will be made soon. None of those who have opposed Mayawati will bow into submission after this police action.’’

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The BJP leadership, which took a two-day off for Diwali, is set to launch fresh initiative to find a way out of the present impasse. ‘‘We have repeated several times that doors for talks are open and that legislators should raise their problems on the party forum. More and more BJP MLAs, who were dissatisfied for one reason or the other, are coming back to the party’s fold,’’ state BJP chief Vinay Katiyar told The Indian Express.

Mayawati has also called a meeting of her party legislators in what appears to be a bid to ensure that there is no threat to her government. ‘‘My government is in a majority and there is no point in convening a special session of the House,’’ she said in a recent press meet while adding that the SP was building castles in the air to topple her government.

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