The Bahujan Samaj Party was faced with a crisis situation when senior leader and leader of Opposition in the Assembly Swami Prasad Maurya quit the post of general secretary after levelling serious corruption charges on Mayawati.
Terming the BSP chief as `daulat ki beti' and not 'Dalit ki beti’, Maurya charged Mayawati of auctioning tickets overlooking the deserving candidates.
Mayawati also quick to 'thank' Maurya for leaving the party and dared her former man friday to tell the public how much money did he pay her while seeking party tickets for his family members and himself.
"We were going to expel Maurya from the party and I am thankful that he took the decision on his own. However, I would like to know how much did he pay me for getting tickets for himself and his family members," said Mayawati.
The BSP supremo also tried to take the charges on her lightly. `My parents named me `Maya’ so I was never faced with dearth of `Maya’ as my workers and leaders all over the country make contributions which has made the outfit economically sound and there is no dearth of `Maya’," she quipped while laughing over Maurya calling her `daulat ki beti’.
Mayawati accused Maurya of promoting `dynasty’ politics and claimed that since she refused to field ticket to his son and daughter in the 2017 Assembly polls, hence Maurya left the party and is lilkey to join a party which promotes dynastic polictics.
The firebrand leader also took a jibe on Mulayam Singh’s family politics commenting ``The SP chief first promotes his brothers, then their sons and further their sons which continues till the last of the clan is accomodated discounting that there were other deserving people in the party.
When referred to Maurya's claimed of having the support of all BSP MlAs, Mayawati said, "You will get to know about his fate very soon.”
On the impact of Maruya’s exit, Mayawati said,
"Maurya was first in lok Dal and later in Janta Dal but failed to win an election. looking for greener pastures, he joined the BSP. In 2007, he lost from Padrauna but on the advise of party leaders, he was given a ticket for the by-elections. I have ovserving that he no commitment towards the party’s ideologies and was always promoting his family. Enough is enough and I happy that he left on his own and I did not have to expel him,” Maaywati said.
In 2012 Asembly polls, Maurya's son and daughter lost as BSP candidates while he won from Padrauna. In 2014 lok Sabha polls, his daughter contested as BSP candidate from Mainpuri against Mulayam Singh Yadav but lost badly.
After leaving the BSP, Maurya is expected to join the ruling Samajwadi Party and is reported to be getting a ministerial berth during the expansion slated next Monday.
After deciding to quit the post of BSP general secretary Maurya made it public at a press conference in lucknow on Wednesday and levelled serious charges against Mayawati including 'auctioning' of party tickets. Maurya also sent a 16 page letter to Mayawati penning his annoyance.
"Mayawati is busy making money at the cost of party's ideology. The BSP boss has been auctioning tickets ever since she took over as the leader from party founder Kanshi Ram. In fact 130 candidates were refused tickets just for failing to pay up. I was really feeling suffocated and hence decided to quit the party," he charged.
SAoon after, Maurya went to the office of PWD minister Shivpal Singh Yadav and also met Parliamentary affairs minister Mohammad Azam Khan triggering speculations about his future course of action. There were also reports that the BSP leader had met BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi recently.