In reaction to their suspension from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the two suspended MLAs on Saturday blamed the State BSP president for weakening the BSP in the State by “selling tickets” to weak candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
BSP chief Mayawati on Friday suspended two BSP MLAs in Uttarakhand for indulging in anti-party activities. The party's position ahead of the polls seems to have weakened as the suspended MLAs and the state BSP president Dr. Meghraj Jaraware raised allegations against each other.
Uttarakhand Social Welfare Minister Surendra Rakesh, and BSP legislature party leader Haridas, who were suspended from the party, are members of the seven-member Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) that supports the ruling Congress government in the State. Addressing the media on Saturday Mr. Haridas alleged that Dr. Jaraware gave tickets to candidates in exchange for money. “If Dr. Jaraware is investigated the reality will be known,” Mr. Haridas said.
Mr. Haridas, who is on his third term as an MLA, said the tickets have been given to weak candidates. Had that not been the case, candidates with a strong mass base would have been made to fight the polls, he said. The BSP, till now, has declared candidates from four Lok Sabha constituencies. Hazi Mohammed Islam is the BSP candidate from Haridwar Lok Sabha constituency; Laik Ahmed from the Nainital constituency; Dheer Singh Bisht from the Pauri constituency; and Chaudhary Sheeshpal Singh from the Tehri constituency. The party secured over 15 per cent votes in the State in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, which is more than two times the percentage of votes it secured in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls.
Dr. Jaraware said the two Ministers were not progressing according to the ideology of the BSP. “Mr. Rakesh and Mr. Haridas did not help the poor who approached them and neither did they allow any officials to help them,” he said. Mr. Rakesh quashed the allegations against him. “The allegations that we didn’t work for the welfare of the Dalits here are wrong,” Mr. Rakesh said.
On Saturday the two MLAs said to the media they would form a new group if they are expelled from the BSP. “We have only been suspended for now. However, if we are expelled from the party then we have enough mass base to come up with our own team,” Mr. Rakesh said.
