By Ashish Tripathi

The Times of India News Service

LUCKNOW: Former Chief Minister Mayawati is all set to join the select rank of statesmen like Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Jai Prakash Narain and Indira Gandhi by becoming an honorary member of the Lucknow University Students Union.

Incidentally, she is the second ex-CM to get this honour -- Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has been bestowed this honour twice in 1994 and 1997. Speaking to The Times of India, the new LUSU president, Shailesh Singh Shailoo said on Thursday that the membership would be conferred to BSP leader for her immense contribution for the upliftment of socially backward classes.

The union has this long tradition of awarding honorary memberships to eminent public figures though there have been breaks in certain years. Ms Mayawati will be conferred the honour on June 11 on the occasion of oath taking ceremony of the newly elected LUSU executive. The new LUSU president is set to formally join the Bahujan Samaj Party on that day while Ms Mayawati is expected to launch the BSP youth wing on the occasion.

Among the recipients are Moraji Desai (1962), Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964), Indira Gandhi (October 1970), Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1970), educationist DS Kothari (1970), former Chief of Army Staff General GG Bevoor (1973), Jai Prakash Narain (August 15, 1974), former Lok Sabha speaker K S Hegde (1979), AASU leader and former Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta (1986), former prime minister VP Singh (1988) and former state chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, the only one to receive the honour twice in 1994 and 1997.