How Many You Have... In The Well?

The three—Jaiveer Singh, Surendra Vikram and Dharam Pal Singh, along with another MLA Ramji Shukla—were planning to rebel against the rebellion. BSP legislature party leader S.P. Maurya claimed many more of the 40 MLAs were poised to "revert back". Perhaps this forced Speaker Pandey’s hand. By Wednesday night, he said the rebels would henceforth function as an independent outfit, Jantantrik Bahujan Dal. Citing the court judgement, Pandey said, "I have decided (their) seating arrangement would remain as before...the application for granting recognition to the outfit is still pending, to be decided as directed by the court."

Earlier, BSP chief Mayawati’s placatory tone to the rebels had had its effect."Our MLAs were gullible and now realise they had lost their way. I am ready to take them back," she had said. But the ‘homecoming’ was thwarted. The coming days should see a lot more flux. In all this, governor T.V. Rajeswar’s hand —and by extension that of the Congress high command—could well be decisive again. Already, state party chief Salman Khursheed has made a trip to Raj Bhavan to question the continuance of "18 MLAs of a different party (BSP) as ministers". Looks like another intrigue-ridden battle is in store in UP.