Mulayam govt on collision course with Raj Bhawan

Lucknow, Jan 10 (UNI) The Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh appeared on a collision course with the Raj Bhawan after the state cabinet today endorsed its earlier decision to reconvene the assembly on January 15 despite the session being prorogued by the Governor.

In a hurriedly-convened cabinet meeting this evening, the government stayed firm on its last night's decision to reconvene the session.

The decision of the cabinet meet, the second in the day, came after Governor T V Rajeswar prorogued the monsoon session of the state assembly.

The state cabinet, headed by Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, decided to hold the session as an ''extension of the monsoon session''.

''The cabinet endorsed the decision to convene the special session, as well as discussed strategy to be adopted on January 15,'' UP Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohd Azam Khan told newspersons after emerging from meeting, which lasted for just a few minutes.

The Chief Minister told reporters that the government had decided to convene the assembly session and the matter had been sent to the UP assembly speaker.

The need to reconvene the assembly arose following the resignation of the ministers of Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), an ally of the Mulayam-led ruling dispensation in UP.

The government had held another meeting in the morning also.

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