Kalyan may coopt five rebel BSP members into cabinet
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh
today hinted that the five rebel members from the Bahujan Samaj
Party, who had voted in his favour during the composite floor test
on February 26, may be given ministerial berths.
Kalyan Singh, who had a closed-door meeting
with senior BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his home in Lucknow that lasted more than an hour,
told newspersons that the talks with Vajpayee did not
include the reconstitution of the cabinet. "He is our leader
and we had come to apprise him of the political developments in the
state," Singh, who was accompanied by state BJP president Rajnath Singh,
said.
Asked whether the new Jantantrik BSP members will be included in
the cabinet, the chief minister replied, "Our hearts are open in this
matter."
Replying to another question, he said the UP cabinet would be
reconstituted after some time.
The five rebel members from the BSP had joined the Jantantrik BSP on
February 24 and later they had voted for Kalyan Singh. The
five members are Shiv Ganesh Lodhi, Ved Prakash, Jay
Narain Tewari, Rajendra Singh Patel and Munna Lal Maurya.
The chief minister was non-committal about the details of his
talks with Vajpayee, saying the talks were mainly confined to the
recent political happenings in the state capital.
When asked about the fate of two more Loktantrik Congress members
Hari Shankar Tiwari and Shyam Sunder Sharma, who was not
dropped from the cabinet despite pressure from Loktantrik Congress
leader Naresh Agarwal, Singh said the matter will be sorted out
through consultations. "I will have a talk with Naresh Agarwal
in this regard," he added.
Both the members had taken oath with Jagdambika Pal, and
Agarwal had announced action against them.
Meanwhile, Naresh Agarwal hoped that the two members will be
dropped from the Kalyan Singh cabinet following their expulsion
from the Loktantrik Congress.
He said he had asked Kalyan Singh to take action against four
erstwhile Loktantrik Congress members and the chief minister had
already dropped two of them, namely Jagdambika Pal and Pooran
Singh Bundela from the ministry. "I believe Hari Shankar Tiwari
and Shyam Sunder Sharma would also be dropped," he told
newspersons.
Agarwal was adamant on not taking back the two members
into the party fold.
UNI
Elections '98
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