Lalu Prasad's relative to enter UP legislature

UP governor Ram Naik clears name of Jitendra Yadav, who is the father-in-law of the RJD chief's daughter Ragini

The decks were cleared for the entry of Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav's relative, Jitendra Yadav, to the Upper House of Uttar Pradesh legislative with Governor Ram Naik today clearing his nomination.

Jitendra Yadav is the father-in-law of the RJD chief's daughter Ragini. Lalu's another daughter Raj Laxmi is married to Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav's grand nephew and Mainpuri Member of Parliament Tej Pratap Singh Yadav.

Meanwhile, Naik also cleared the names of three other persons for nomination to the Upper House (Vidhan Parishad) viz. Sriram Singh Yadav, Lilawati Kushwaha, Ramvriksha Singh Yadav. The names have been cleared after almost five weeks of nine UP Vidhan Parishad seats falling vacant. Five names are still pending with Naik.

According to a Raj Bhawan communique here, the Governor had summoned chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and apprised him of his decision clearing the names.

Earlier, the Akhilesh Yadav government had forwarded nine names for nomination as Member of Legislative Council (MLC) to the Raj Bhawan for approval after the seats fell vacant on May 25, 2015. These names were finalised by Mulayam after hectic parleys and meetings.

However, Naik had raised queries regarding five of these names after taking cognizance of complaints against them from various individuals/organisations. On May 28, Mulayam had even called upon Naik over these proposed nominations.

Naik has sought additional information/details over the affidavit filed by the remaining five persons, whose names had been proposed by the state and remain pending. These include Kamlesh Kumar Pathak, businessman Sanjay Seth, Ramvijay Singh, Abdul Sarfaraz Khan and Rajpal Kashyap.

On June 18, the Income Tax department had raided the premises of Seth, who is the director of a prominent Lucknow-based realty firm Shalimar Group. The premises of his business partner Khalid Masood were also raided over tax evasion.