Mayawati expelled two more leaders from the party on Wednesday even as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh is facing rapid erosion of its vote base among Dalits and the backwards.
State Legislature party leader Lalji Verma and former State party president Ramachal Rajbhar — both senior OBC leaders and Ministers in the previous Mayawati Government — were expelled for alleged anti-party activities.
“With these two senior most leaders gone, where is the second-rung leadership in the BSP. We have only Satish Chandra Mishra, who is just the Yes Man of Mayawati,” said a BSP law maker
The expulsion assumed significance because UP will go to polls within next seven months.
Now the BSP is left with only six legislators in the State Assembly.
In the 2017 elections, the BSP had won 19 seats of which 11 had turned rebel.
Aslam Raini, one of the rebels and MLA from Bhinga constituency in Shrawasti, said this round of expulsion is the beginning of the end of the party in Uttar Pradesh. “The party has lost base and now Mayawati, who was Chief Minister thrice will be reduced to non-entity in this election,” he said.
Raini had revolted against the party and had attended the special session of the State Legislature on October 2, 2019. “Mayawati believes many leaders will join BSP, but the way she behaves with senior leaders, one will think twice before joining the BSP,” he said.
Though the BSP said in its statement that Verma and Rajbhar were expelled for anti-party activities, insiders said there were indications that these two leaders were set to join Samajwadi Party. “To save the party from embarrassment, Mayawati has expelled them,” he said.
In the recent past, many senior leaders have left the party. The list includes in the names of Nassimuddin Sididiqui, RK Chaudhry, former MLA Ravindra Molhu, former Meerut mayor Sunita Varma, former MLA Yogesh Varma, senior party leader Sunil Chittor, former MLA Kalicharan Suman, Narain Signh Suman, Tilakchand Ahirwar, Veeru Suman, Bhartendu Arun, Malkhan Singh Vyas, Kamal Gautam, Prem Chand and Vikram Singh.
Majority of those who are expelled are Dalits. “With these expulsions what message she is trying to give to the Dalits,” asked a Dalit leader in the party.
Sources said in several districts, party leaders have either been expelled or have left the party. In the last two years, 17 BSP leaders from Pratapgarh, including former Patti Assembly constituency in-charge RK Bhim, joined the SP.
Former BSP Minister Ghura Ram, former Mau BSP district president Ashok Gautam, former BSP State president Dayaram Pal, and former Ballia district chief, Mithailal Bharati also left the BSP, accusing the party of deviating from the ideals of BR Ambedkar and its founder, Kanshi Ram.
The BSP’s politics revolves around Dalits, which form 21 per cent of the total UP population. Mayawati is also eyeing Muslims, who account for 19 per cent of population, by making Guddu Jamali as the leader of the BSP Legislature Party.
“Jamaali is no match to Lalji Verma or Nssimuddin Siddiqui who were shown the door by Mayawati. The vote base of the party is eroding fast and such decisions could prove detrimental for BSP,” Nomita P Kumar, a political analyst in Giri Institute of Development Studies (GIDS), Lucknow said.