The Hindu : Opposition to intensify campaign against Mayawati

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 07, 2003

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Opposition to intensify campaign against Mayawati

By Gargi Parsai

New Delhi June 6. The four major Opposition parties — the Samajwadi Party, the Congress, the Rastriya Lok Dal (RLD), the Rastriya Kranti Party (RKD) — in Uttar Pradesh who have come together to take on the Mayawati Government, will intensify their campaign to dislodge the BSP-BJP-led Government with a meeting between the Samajwadi Party president, Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Rashtriya Lok Dal leader, Ajit Singh, and Congress representatives slated here in the next two days.

Even as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, continues with her foreign tour, and the nine RLD MLAs remain holed up in Jammu and Kashmir, the Opposition parties await word from the Governor, Vishnu Kant Shastri, on their joint memorandum submitted to him on May 30 to either dismiss the Mayawati Government or ask the Chief Minister to prove her majority. Until that happens they apparently seem to be making no headway in their move to topple the State Government which lost the support of 14 MLAs, including five Ministers, after the RLD leader, Ajit Singh, withdrew from the BSP-BJP-led coalition.

Sources alleged that the vulnerable MLAs were being pressured to either stay with the ruling coalition and get awarded with Ministership or face action on trumped-up charges. In a bid to keep its flock together, the BJP has already hinted at Cabinet expansion on Ms. Mayawati's return on June 12.

The Chief Minister's political rivals pooh-poohed the support of nine independents released by her office recently asking how they could have jointly signed the statement when some were allegedly absconding.

Mulayam Singh who met the Rashtriya Kranti party leader, Kalyan Singh, today in Lucknow declared that at least two dozen BJP MLAs were ready to switch sides at the right time.

He will come to the Delhi meeting prepared with what transpired between him and Kalyan Singh. The parties will gain an impetus after the Governor takes a decision in the matter or when Ms. Mayawati returns.

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Opposition to intensify campaign against Mayawati