LUCKNOW: Six Ministers of the Samajwadi Party Government in Uttar Pradesh resigned on Thursday, a day after the Supreme Court disqualified 13 MLAs of the Loktantrik Bahujan Dal, a breakaway faction of the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said those Ministers who were present in Lucknow had resigned while those who were not present would resign later. Of the seven Ministers, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Jai Prakash Yadav, was not present in the State capital on Thursday.

As regards the resignation of the two Chairmen of State undertakings, Kazim Ali Khan and Rajendra Singh Chauhan, who were conferred with the status of Minister of State, Mr. Yadav said they had not taken the oath as Ministers. Though the Chief Minister did not elaborate, this meant that once they were disqualified as MLAs they automatically ceased to be Chairmen.

Mr. Yadav reiterated that only 13 MLAs had been disqualified by the Supreme Court and said there was no confusion on the number of MLAs disqualified. He was referring to the claims of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress that all the 37 MLAs of LBD had lost their membership. He said that though his Government enjoyed majority in the House he was ready to prove majority again if the Opposition parties demanded.

Earlier in the day, the six Ministers held a meeting at Mr. Yadav's 5, Kalidas Marg official residence in the absence of the CM who was away on a election tour to Uttarakhand. They handed over their papers to the CM when he returned to Lucknow in the evening.

Talking to newsmen, the Ministers said they had extended support to the Government in order to prevent the mid-term Assembly elections.

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