Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s meeting with the Governor Ram Naik on Tuesday appears to have paved the way for naming nine nominated members to the Vidhan Parishad (State Legislative Council). The nine nominated members were to have become MLCs by May 25, but the list sent to the Governor was returned to the Government. Mr. Naik wanted to know whether any criminal cases were pending against the candidates and whether they fulfilled the Constitutional requirement of excellence in the field of art, culture, social service and literature.
A release from Raj Bhavan said the additional information related to the nomination of nine members to the Legislative Council sought by the Governor was made available to him by the Chief Minister. The Governor was also informed about the Chief Minister’s foreign visit, the Raj Bhavan release added.
Mr. Yadav who returned from his foreign tour on Sunday went to Raj Bhavan late on Tuesday. The list of nine names was sent to Raj Bhavan before the Chief Minister left on a 10-day visit to The Netherlands and France. The list was returned to the Government by Mr. Naik on May 23 with the Governor seeking additional information about the nine persons named in the list.
With the Chief Minister away and the issue hanging fire, the Samajwadi Party president, Mulayam Singh’s unexpected visit to Raj Bhavan last week fuelled speculations about the purpose of his meeting with the Governor. Even as both Raj Bhavan and Mr. Singh described it as a courtesy visit and the Samajwadi Party chief denied that the issue of nine nominated members was discussed with Mr. Naik, the political grapevine was rife with speculations about the likelihood of some changes being made in the list sent by the Government.
Whether, or not, changes have been made in the list and whether some names have been dropped to accommodate others whose names were making rounds of the ruling party circles would be known only after the nine nominated members of the Council are approved by the Governor. Sources in the Samajwadi Party refused to comment as they preferred to wait and watch.
