UP: BJP talks Opp MLCs into quitting for Yogi

The BJP in Uttar Pradesh is working overtime to find a place for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the state Legislative Council.

The six-month deadline for the chief minister to become a member of the state legislature to retain his post ends on August 19, and a section of the party feels that he should be accommodated in the Upper House that would allow him to focus on the government.

The BJP has already persuaded two MLCs of the Samajwadi Party and one BSP member to resign to accommodate Adityanath and four of his ministerial colleagues (without a place in the Assembly).

The party is also busy poaching non-NDA MLCs to ensure the process is smooth.

BJP sources said its leadership is in talks to rope in independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya after his close aide from SP Yashwant Singh quits the Legislative Council to join the NDA. Bhaiya and Singh were ministers in the Akhilesh Yadav government.

If Bhaiya agrees to be part of the NDA, the controversial MLA representing Kunda constituency will be made a minister in the Yogi government. Bhaiya is no stranger to the BJP, having been a minister in the erstwhile governments of Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta and Rajnath Singh.

Besides Singh, another SP MLC Bukkal Nawab has also quit the Upper House to align with the BJP.

The party is also trying to woo expelled BSP MLC Naseemudin Siddiqui, after its own Vidhan Parishad member Thakur Jaiveer Singh sent in his resignation to the Upper House chairman.

The party seems unsure if it should let Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya continue in UP government or recall him for central duties. Maurya currently represents Phulpur Lok Sabha seat.

The party has been busy clearing up seats in Vidhan Parishad for the other Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma and ministers Swatantra Deo Singh and Mohsin Raza, who are not members of the Assembly or the Council.