Jaya Bachchan

NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party on Friday said its disqualified Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan would be re-nominated in the by-election to her seat once it is notified vacant.

Party general secretary Amar Singh told mediapersons, "The party is fully behind Ms. Bachchan. She will be re-nominated. She has been disqualified not because of any misdeed but on technical grounds. Only Jaya Bachchan can prevent Jaya Bachchan from entering Parliament."

Asked why was she not nominated on Friday for the biennial elections, he said the party was unaware of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's decision to accept the Election Commission's recommendation to disqualify Ms. Bachchan. "We came to know in the afternoon from television channels, by which time it was too late for her to file her papers from Lucknow." Ms. Bachchan is reportedly in Mumbai.

Full faith

Mr. Singh said while he had full faith in Mr. Kalam and the Election Commission, there should be "non partisan" action on 44 similar complaints filed against several members of Parliament, including Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Karan Singh, T. Subbarami Reddy and even Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. Mr. Singh said his party planned to file for the disclosure of such names under the Right to Information Act. "This decision has opened a pandora's box. The same yardstick should be applied to all," he said.

Mr. Singh said he offered to resign his Rajya Sabha seat on Friday but was "prevented'' by party president Mulayam Singh Yadav. "The party's Parliamentary Board will meet soon to take a decision on my resignation offer." The Election Commission has taken a complaint against Mr. Singh also for holding an office of profit as Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Development Board.

Mr. Singh said though he did not accept anything from the Board, he wanted to resign on moral grounds. He hoped other "tall leaders" from other parties would follow suit.

Asked why Ms. Bachchan resigned from the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council and again accepted the position, he said she had been advised to do so. "As member of the Rajya Sabha, Shatrughan Singh had held a similar position in the Rajnath Singh Government in Uttar Pradesh. But nobody complained. We were not aware of this tactic of the Congress. This has been done for the first time."

Asked if the party would file a counter-complaint against Ms. Gandhi, he said, "I dare not. Without complaining I am suffering so much."

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