Two Uttar Pradesh legislators unseated

Two legislators in Uttar Pradesh were disqualified as members of the state assembly Thursday by Governor Ram Naik for their illegal acts, including taking government contracts while in office, an official said.

Legislators are Bajrang Bahadur of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Uma Shankar Singh of the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The Lokayukta had recommended termination of their membership following which the matter was sent to the Election Commission. The poll panel after detailed scrutiny of the recommendations wrote to the governor to disqualify both the MLAs.

Uma Shankar Singh was legislator from Rasra assembly segment in Ballia while Bajrang Bahadur Singh was a legislator from Farainda assembly constituency of Maharajganj.

The BSP legislator has been accused of taking government contracts due to his proximity to then chief minister Mayawati and minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui while the BJP MLA has been accused of taking undue favours and government contracts subsequently.

Reacting to the action by the governor, the BJP legislator said he would approach court after consultation with his lawyers.

The poll panel had asked them to present their viewpoint before the governor earlier this month. The legislators did so but the governor apparently was not satisfied with their explanation and acted against them, unseating them from the asxsembly.