Jaya returns to RS after opposition furore

Lucknow, June 8 (UNI) Two former Samajwadi Party MPs including cine star Bachchan Jaya Amitabh were today elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed.

With this, the actress, who recently changed her name to Bachchan Jaya Amitabh, returned to the Upper House of Parliament from where she had to resign in March after the Election Commission disqualified her.

The EC said the post of chairperson of Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council (UPFDC) was an Office-of-Profit (OoP), therefore she should demit her Rajya Sabha membership.

Furore was created after her resignation with Opposition BJP and SP mounting pressure on the Congress on the issue of Office-of- Profit in the Lok Sabha.

To put an end to the controversy, AICC president Sonia Gandhi resigned from the post of chairperson of National Advisory Council (NAC) and also as member of the Lok Sabha. She later got elected from Rae Bareli with a landslide margin of over 4 lakh votes in the recently held by election.

The SP termed as 'politics of vendetta', the decision of the Union government not to include the post of chairperson of UPFDC exempted from the office-of profit Jaya had last month stepped down as the chairperson of UPFDC.

Principal secretary (Legislative Assembly) and returning officer Rajendra Prasad Pandey announced their election.

Amir Alam Khan is the other SP candidate. He represented Kairana in Muzzafarnagar district of West Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha twice. He will make his maiden entry to upper house.

However, Ms Bachchan's certificate of election was received by Uttar Pradesh Revenue Minister Ambika Chaudhary in her absence, while Mr Khan personally received his certificate.

As there were only two candidates in the fray for as many seats, they were declared elected unopposed. Today was also the last date of withdrawing nominations.

The Opposition, unable to find a consensus candidate, decided against fielding anyone. The main opposition, the BJP and the Congress, had already expressed their unwillingness to contest the two seats.

BSP was not keen to fight the bypolls as the winning candidate was to be decided by majority vote seperately for the two seats.

State BJP president Keshri Nath Tripathi had said as the winners would be decided seperately by majority vote of the assembly, hence the party was not interested in contesting the bypolls.

''Even a joint-opposition candidate will not be able to win as the SP-led coalition has the majority in the House,'' he added.

Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari had already announced the party would not contest bypolls to the Upper House.

This is Ms Bachchan's second entry to the RS after 2004. She had to resign in March following the office-of-profit controversy.

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