Chief Minister Mayawati and her cabinet colleague Swami Prasad Maurya were on Thursday declared elected unopposed as the members of Vidhan Parishad.
Principal secretary of Vidhan Sabha Rajendra Prasad Pandey declared them elected as the MLC after the time for withdrawal of nomination papers was over. The death of Samajwadi Party member Vikramaditya Pandey and the BSP Barkhu Ram Verma had caused by-election to two seats.
While the term of Mayawati's Vidhan Parishad seat expires on July 6, 2010, Maurya will remain member of the Upper House till January 30, 2009. A Rajya Sabha MP Mayawati has opted for the Upper House instead of contesting election to the Vidhan Sabha on the grounds that she wanted to give equal treatment to all the 403 assembly constituencies.
“Unlike Mulayam Singh Yadav who develops only his constituency, I will equally treat all the 403 Vidhan Sabha seats,” said Mayawati soon after filing her nomination papers. Maurya, on the other hand, had lost the Vidhan Sabha election. Chief minister, however, decided to induct him in ministry and provided him the back door entry to the state legislature.