LUCKNOW: For the first time in the last 135 years, Congress will have zero representation in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. The lone Congress member Deepak Singh retired on Wednesday after completing his tenure.
The Legislative Council was formed in the United Province on January 5, 1887, and its first meeting was held on January 8, 1887, at Thornhill Memorial Hall of then Allahabad. Since then, the Council has always had Congress representatives.
A total of 10 members including six of the Samajwadi Party (SP), three of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and one of Congress retired from UP Vidhan Parishad on Wednesday. The tenure of two of the BJP MLCs—Keshav Maurya and Chaudhury Bhupendra Singh -- also ended on Wednesday but both were re-elected to the council already in mid-June polls to 13 seats of Vidhan Parishad.
Those, who retired on Wednesday, included Jagjivan Prasad, Balram Yadav, Dr Kamlesh Kumar Pathak, Ranvijay Singh, Ramsunder Nishad and Shatruddha Prakash of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Atar Singh Rao, Suresh Kumar Kashyap and Dinesh Chandra of the BSP and Deepak Singh of Congress.
With the retirement of the bunch of MLCs, 13 including nine of the BJP and four of SP, elected on June 20, started their tenure on Wednesday.
UP Vidhan Parishad, which has a total strength of 100 members, still has eight vacancies – six of nominated members quota and two necessitated by the demise of SP leader Ahmad Hassan. BJP’s Thakur Jaiveer Singh had his tenure till May 5, 2024, but he quit after getting elected to Assembly.
At present, BJP and allies have 75 members, SP nine, BSP 1, Jansatta Dal, led by Raja Bhaiyya, 1 and independents 6.