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U.P. BJP dissidents in a defiant mood

By J.P. Shukla

LUCKNOW NOV. 15. The BJP dissident legislators in Uttar Pradesh have refused to be cowed down by the party move to get them disqualified under the provisions of the Anti-Defection Law. They failed to prove their might in the Rajya Sabha byelection due to the rejection of the nomination of their candidate, Suresh Nanda, last week but are hopeful of ensuring the victory of Jaswant Singh, the nominee opposing the ruling alliance candidate, Munna Singh Chauhan, in the Legislative Council byelection on November 18.

There would be a direct contest between Mr. Singh and Mr. Chauhan in the byelection and a defeat of the ruling alliance nominee would mean loss of majority for the Government in the Assembly.

The Mayawati Government would not be forced to resign in case of a defeat but it would boost the morale of the Samajwadi Party and other Opposition groups intent on pulling down the regime by encouraging dissidence in the ranks of the ruling parties.

Mr. Chauhan is a nominee of the Rashtriya Lok Dal leader, Ajit Singh. However, nothing has been done so far by the ruling coalition to chalk out a common strategy to ensure his victory. The Opposition has been making preparations to defeat the RLD candidate.

Jaswant Singh, nominated by the BJP dissidents, belongs to the Lok Janshakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan, who is likely to seek the support of the Opposition, including the Congress, to get his party candidate elected. The BJP leaders had been toying with the idea of restraining the dissidents from voting for the Opposition candidate through legal means. The idea has since been dropped as any directive issued to restrain the dissidents could not be binding. The dissidents are in a defiant mood. They have almost been sure of losing their Assembly membership following the BJP's petition to the Speaker, Kesrinath Tripathi, to disqualify them. Still, they are not prepared to relent.

There has been another move in the BJP to petition the Chairman of the Legislative Council to disqualify the dissidents belonging to the Upper House.

In the case of the MLAs, their action to propose the name of Suresh Nanda as a nominee for the Rajya Sabha byelection was given as a ground to disqualify them. No such valid ground was, however, available to seek the disqualification of the Legislative Council members right now.

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