Several SP leaders in touch with BSP, says Mayawati

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday hit out at the Samajwadi Party (SP) after two expelled BSP leaders Lalji Verma and Ramachal Rajbhar joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led party at a rally in Uttar Pradesh.

The inclusion of expelled leaders of the BSP and other rival parties would not increase the SP’s support base but would weaken it further, Mayawati said in a series of tweets. Several SP leaders aspiring for the party ticket in the coming assembly election were in contact with the BSP leadership after the SP opened its doors for the expelled leaders of other parties, she claimed. The SP should know that ticket seekers in its own party were now angry after the induction of such selfish leaders eager to defect to other parties, the BSP chief said. The defectors joining the SP are going to cause a lot of damage to this party from within in the coming assembly election, she said.

Mayawati made it clear that she was not eager to open her party’s doors to the defectors from other parties who wished to join the BSP after being denied tickets for the assembly election.

Rather, the BSP will give the party ticket to its own leaders instead of defectors, she said.

In a separate tweet, Mayawati demanded withdrawal of the Centre’s three new farm laws.

For the first time in three years, the Central government has given some relief to the people on Diwali by reducing the excise duty slightly on petrol and diesel, Mayawati noted. Similarly, the central government should withdraw the three agricultural laws, she said. Speaking at the Janadesh rally in Ambedkar Nagar district earlier in the day, both Verma and Rajbhar called upon the people to vote the ruling BJP out of power and make SP chief Akhilesh Yadav the next chief minister by ensuring the SP’s victory in the 2022 assembly election. Verma said the BSP has deviated from ideals of Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram. “I was a founder member of the BSP and worked for 35 years to widen the party’s support,” he said. Rajbhar, who was national general secretary of the BSP, alleged that the BSP chief had humiliated him.

INCLUSION OF EXPELLED LEADERS WILL WEAKEN SP, SAYS BSP CHIEF