After expelling the Ansari brothers from the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati has now set on a course to enhance the image of her party by getting rid of members and office-bearers with alleged criminal antecedents.
April 30 was fixed the deadline by the party for identifying criminal elements and mafia and taking action against them at the party level.
A review meeting would be conducted by Ms. Mayawati in Lucknow on April 30 when it was expected that some more worthies would be expelled from the ruling party. Following a meeting of the BSP coordinators presided over by PWD Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Revenue Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha at the behest of Ms. Mayawati, in Lucknow on Saturday it was decided to strictly curtail the presence of people on the ruling party's dais.
Henceforth, only the MPs, MLAs, MLCs and party coordinators would be allowed access to the stage during the BSP's programmes with the beginning to be made on May 22 when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government completes one year in office at the Centre. On that day, the ruling party, on the directives of Ms. Mayawati, would stage protest demonstration and dharnas at all the district headquarters to “expose the UPA government.”
“The Gonda incident when Hanuman Saran Shukla was shot dead on the dais on April 14 has served as a wake-up call for the BSP leadership and now unwanted and undesirable elements would not be allowed to position themselves on the dais,” said a senior BSP functionary on strict condition of anonymity.
In 2009, Lucknow's alleged mafia don, Aruna Shankar Shukla alias Anna was expelled from the BSP after he lost the Lok Sabha election from Unnao. But, the buck does not stop here. Alleged mafia don of Western Uttar Pradesh, D.P. Yadav, who won the Budaun Assembly seat as an Independent joined the ruling party in 2008. BSP MLA from Auraiya, Shekhar Tiwari, is in jail for his alleged involvement in the murder of PWD engineer, Manoj Gupta in December 2008. Another ruling party MLA, Anand Sein Yadav (Milkipur in Faizabad district) is in jail for his alleged involvement in kidnapping and subsequent murder of a girl, Shashi. Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit, the BSP MLA from Dibai in Bulandshahr district was recently released on bail in a case related to the alleged illegal confinement of a girl in Agra.
