Campaigning against the party candidate proved costly for a Bahujan Samaj Party leader from Bijnore as party supremo Mayawati expelled him from the party on Thursday.
BSP district president in Bijnore, Rajendra Kumar, confirmed to media the expulsion of Iqbal Thakeydar from the party.
Last Tuesday, Mayawati had suspended senior leader and former minister Ramveer Upadhyay for his ‘anti-party activities’. Upadhyay had campaigned for Bharatiya Janata Party candidate in Aligarh and had even supported the saffron party in Fatehpur Sikri.
According to sources, taking a serious note of reports that senior BSP leader Iqbal Thakeydar, who was twice elected MLA from Chandpur Assembly constituency of Bijnore on BSP ticket, had campaigned for Congress candidate from Bijnore, Naseemuddin Siddiqui, Mayawati issued his expulsion order on Thursday.
Iqbal did not campaign for BSP candidate Malook Nagar in Bijnore and backed his former colleague Naseemuddin Siddiqui.
Siddiqui was number two in the BSP but after the party expelled him, he accused Mayawati of taking money for giving party tickets. Siddiqui, about a year back, joined Congress and contested the recent parliamentary elections from Bijnore on its ticket but came in third place. BSP candidate Malook Nagar won the election as SP-BSP-RLD gathbandhan candidate.
Sources said that Iqbal, who lost the 2017 UP assembly elections to BJP’s Kamlesh Saini, was demanding Lok Sabha ticket from Bijnore. When Mayawati made Ruchi Veera as incharge of Bijnore parliamentary seat, Iqbal had staged a protest. The BSP supremo got agitated and removed him from the Party but after announcement of the parliament elections, she took him back in the party. Not only this, Mayawati also removed Ruchi Veera and made Iqbal the incharge of Bijnore Lok Sabha seat.
This had raised hope of Iqbal contesting the election from Bijnore and he purchased the candidature form but at the last moment, Mayawati announced Malook Nagar as the party candidate. Annoyed by her move, Iqbal had openly campaigned for Siddiqui.
