India
In the 100-strong upper house, the governor is empowered to nominate 10 such persons on the advice of the government. Nine of these seats are falling vacant this month.
Updated : May 23, 2015, 08:33 PM IST
Nominations to the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council), the upper house of the state's bi-cameral legislature, are mired in an unseemly controversy after allegations of politicians usurping the seats meant for eminent personalities from different walks of life.
The nominations for the nine seats falling vacant on May 25 are pending with Governor Ram Naik who is supposed to take a final decision on the matter. The names given by the SP government have apparently irked him as not one eminent person figures on the list.
An interesting twist to the entire story has been added with the entry of actress Jaya Prada, for whom former SP leader Amar Singh is learnt to have been lobbying with party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for a long time. Jaya, a former SP MP from Rampur (west UP), who lost the 2014 election, is looking for rehabilitation.
The governor is learnt to have taken a serious note of journalist-activist Sachidanand Gupta's complaint in the matter. Gupta told dna that he had quoted a 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment which clearly said that only prominent personalities from various fields, including the arts, literature and the like, could be nominated for these seats.
"I am sure the governor will take the right decision to uphold the dignity and honour of this august house. But if that does not happen, I shall approach the high court. The present list is a clear violation of the high court order in this regard," he said.
In the 100-strong upper house, the governor is empowered to nominate 10 such persons on the advice of the government. Nine of these seats are falling vacant this month.
Samajwadi Party (SP) insiders say UP CM Akhilesh Yadav had personally ensured the deletion of Jaya Prada's name while his father was insistent on her inclusion due to Amar Singh's pressure tactics. Jaya Prada's bête noire UP Cabinet Minister Azam Khan, also from Rampur, is learnt to have been instrumental in getting her name erased from the list.
While the father-son duo fight out a cold war, it is the Governor who is in a fix over what to do with the nominations. While Raj Bhavan (Governor House) sources confirmed having got the list, no one was available to comment on how Ram Naik, an old BJP hand, proposed to deal with it.
Governor nominates on advice of govt
In the 100-strong upper house, the governor is empowered to nominate 10 such persons on the advice of the government. Nine of these seats are falling vacant this month.
Samajwadi Party (SP) insiders say UP CM Akhilesh Yadav had personally ensured the deletion of Jaya Prada's name while his father was insistent on her inclusion due to Amar Singh's pressure tactics. Jaya Prada's bête noire UP Cabinet Minister Azam Khan, also from Rampur, is learnt to have been instrumental in getting her name erased from the list.