rediff.com
rediff.com
News
      HOME | NEWS | REPORT
July 29, 2000

NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff


Rediff Shopping
Shop & gift from thousands of products!
  Books     Music    
  Apparel   Jewellery
  Flowers   More..     

Safe Shopping

BJP MLA tenders conditional resignation in UP

E-Mail this report to a friend

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

A beleaguered Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party received another jolt when its legislator from Hardoi, Ganga Singh Chauhan, put in his papers to the assembly speaker late Friday night.

His resignation was in protest against the party leadership's impotence in taking action against ally Loktantrik Congress Party chief Naresh Agarwal, who he has accused of being a key conspirator in his wife's murder last fortnight.

Chauhan was a victim of an attack by miscreants while he was asleep in his Hardoi residence. His wife was killed in the attack, while he ended up with serious injuries.

His resignation was sent to Speaker Keshri Nath Tripathi by facsimile at about 22.30 hours IST. However it contained a rider: it should be accepted if his bete noire Naresh Agarwal also offered to step down.

"Let us both resign and face the people's court," he said.

"I challenge Naresh Agarwal to face me in an open contest at the hustings," he added.

Tripathi declined to accept the resignation on technical grounds. He told rediff.com on Saturday morning, "A resignation through facsimile has no locus standi; a legislator's resignation must come on a prescribed format; therefore, Ganga Singh Chauhan's resignation has no meaning and therefore cannot be accepted."

Meanwhile, according to reports from the legislator's hometown, Hardoi, which also happens to be the political abode of Agarwal, fireworks were witnessed at the thirteenth day condolence assembly of Chauhan's wife on Friday. The legislator once again charged Agarwal with "direct involvement" in the attack.

He also flayed the government for not suspending, and only transferring district police superintendent S S Maheswari, whom he accused of being a part of the "murder conspiracy".

Signifiantly, this happened in the presence of two BJP ministers and six party legislators, besides several former parliamentarians, who had gone to Hardoi for the condolence ceremony.

Housing and urban development minister Lalji Tandon and finance minister Harish Chandra Srivastava refrained from making remarks for or against the ally minister, who had earlier warned the chief minister of parting ways if the Hardoi legislator was not restrained from making "wild accusations".

They declined comment as the matter has been referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report

HOME | NEWS | MONEY | SPORTS | MOVIES | CHAT | INFOTECH | TRAVEL | NEWSLINKS
ROMANCE | WEDDING | BOOK SHOP | MUSIC SHOP | GIFT SHOP | HOTEL BOOKINGS
AIR/RAIL | WEATHER | FREE MESSENGER | BROADBAND | E-CARDS | EDUCATION
HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL | CONTESTS | FEEDBACK