Close to 8 months ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) expelled two senior leaders, state legislature party leader Lalji Verma and former state party president Ramachal Rajbhar from the party for anti-party activities.
Verma and Rajbhar, both senior OBC leaders of the party and ministers in the erstwhile Mayawati government, are legislators from Ambedkar Nagar district of East UP.
This comes after the party’s dismal performance in recently concluded Panchayat polls in the state. BSP performed badly in the panchayat polls, finishing a distant third behind BJP and SP.
Official BSP statement released on Thursday said, both the MLAs have been expelled for anti-party activities during the recent panchayat polls and the two-time MLA from Mubarkpur seat of Azamgarh district Shah Alam ‘Guddu Jamali’ has been nominated the new leader of the party in the Vidhan Sabha.
The development assumes more significance as it has happened around 8 months before the next assembly polls in the state. The two expelled leaders have reportedly been in touch with the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP for last few months.
So far BSP has seen 11 of its 19 MLAs turn rebel in UP. BSP had won 19 seats in 2017 assembly polls in the state.
Aslam Raini, one of the 11 rebel BSP MLAs, dubbed the latest expulsion of the two senior BSP leaders from the party as the forerunner about the end of the party in the state it ruled between 2007 and 2012. He blamed party national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra for repeated expulsion and suspension of senior leaders from the party.
Raini, the legislator from Bhinga seat of East UP’s Shrawasti district was among the seven MLAs suspended by party supremo Mayawati for rebellion in the 2020 Rajya Sabha polls.
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