Four MLAs quit SP, rejoin BSP

Lucknow, Mar 1 (UNI) Four MLAs, including two Ministers, resigned from the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh this afternoon and rejoined the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The two Ministers -- Jaiveer Singh and Surendra Vikram Singh, made the announcement at the Raj Bhawan here after submitting their resignation from the ministerial assignment to Governor T V Rajeswar. The two Ministers later announced they were rejoining the BSP, which they quit in 2003.

The two Ministers met the Governor alongwith BSP legislature party leader Swami Prasad Maurya and two other MLAs, Dharam Pal Singh and Ramji Shukla.

While Jaiveer Singh was the minister of state for medical health, Mr Surendra Vikram Singh was the minister of state for food and civil supplies. Among the two other MLAs, Mr Dharam Pal Singh who headed the UP State Poultry and Livestock Corporation also resigned from the government job.

All the four MLAs, meanwhile, have sought special state security alleging threat to their lives from the SP government.

Mr Surendra Vikram Singh, in a letter to the state governor alleged that a senior cabinet minister close to the chief minister has threatened him with dire consequences, after Mr Singh informed Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav about his decision of quitting the government and the party. He further said that he feared that the government could harrass him and his family by lodging fake cases.

The four are among the 40 rebel BSP MLAs in whose case the three judge bench of the Allahabad High Court in Lucknow had passed a 2-1 verdict yesterday.

Interacting with newspersons, Mr Maurya claimed that many other MLAs of the 40 legislators were in touch with him and soon the number of such MLAs joining the BSP will reach 28. Mr Maurya further claimed that another of the 40 MLAs, Brijendra Pratap Singh, who is also a minister in the Mulayam Singh government, will rejoin the party soon.

UNI SB/MB ARS RP PM1745