Bihar redux in UP? 1 BSP, 2 SP MLCs quit; Akhilesh cries 'political graft'

BJP has to decide on 5 of its ministers in UP, including Yogi, who are not members of the two Houses

Three members of the UP legislative council, including two from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and one from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), resigned on Saturday.

SP leaders Bukkal Nawab and Yashwant Singh, and Thakur Jiaveer Singh from the BSP submitted their resignation to Chairman of the Legislative Council, Ramesh Yadav.

Reacting on the development, SP chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said he had met Nawab on Eid and wondered why he had a "sudden change of heart".

"I will ask him (Nawab) as to why he was not giving the BJP leaders (ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government) a chance to face the (election)...(why) some MLCs are being lured and tutored so as to enable (their leaders) from not facing the people," he said.

"After the 'political corruption' on a big scale in Bihar, it seems the same will be done in Uttar Pradesh...People are seeing what is happening ...Those who have to go will go, they cannot be stopped," he said.

After submitting his resignation, Nawab said he was "feeling suffocated" in the party since the past one year and that he was ready to meet the BJP leadership if called by them.

The resignation of three MLCs on a day BJP president Amit Shah arrived here on a three-day visit assumes significance as the saffron party has to soon take a decision on five of its ministers in Uttar Pradesh, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who are not members of either of the two Houses.

Besides Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, ministers Swatantra Dev Singh and Mohsin Raza have not been elected to either the state assembly or the legislative council.