ALL EYES are set on 33 MLAs of the Bahujan Samaj Party breakaway group as the deadline for the Rajya Sabha and the Vidhan Parishad polls are getting nearer.
The BSP claimed that following the High Court order, the 33 MLAs automatically became the party members. The BSP leader in the Vidhan Sabha Swami Prasad Maurya also said the party’s chief whip Indrajit Saroj would issue a whip directing all the MLAs to cast their vote in support of the party candidate.
Out of the 38 MLAs of the breakaway group, five including Jaivir Singh, Surendra Vikram Singh, Dharampal Singh, Ramkrishna and Ramji Shukla, have already returned to the party fold. These MLAs have been told to persuade these 33 MLAs to vote for the party candidates.
The BSP has fielded three candidates for the Rajya Sabha and three for Vidhan Sabha polls to create dissension in the SP camp.
At present, the BSP, which has the strength of 72 MLAs, is in a position to send only two candidates to Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishad. The third candidate will win if he gets the 33 MLAs’ vote.
The SP, which has fielded five candidates for the Rajya Sabha and six for the Vidhan Parishad polls, claimed that all the 33 MLAs were its members who would cast their vote in favour of its candidates.
The SP also said the High Court, regarding the disqualification of the 39 MLAs, had put the ball in the Speaker’s court and hoped that all its candidates would win the RS and VP polls.
{{/usCountry}}The SP also said the High Court, regarding the disqualification of the 39 MLAs, had put the ball in the Speaker’s court and hoped that all its candidates would win the RS and VP polls.
{{/usCountry}}However, Sudhanshu Mittal, a businessman, who has filed his nomination as an independent candidate, might upset the apple-cart of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Majority of the 16 independent MLAs have extended support to Mittal who is also counting on the 33 MLAs.
The candidates fielded by the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Congress Party are also trying hard to garner the support of the 33 MLAs of the breakway group.