1,200 workers leave BSP

A large number of Bahujan Samaj Party workers are joining Swami Prasad Maurya, a former BSP leader who rebelled against party supremo Mayawati. BSP workers who have come under Maurya’s umbrella second the latter’s view that their “work never received due acknowledgment” by the party’s leadership. Shrikant Tyagi, BSP’s former youth wing head in Ghaziabad, said, “We are 1,200 party workers in Ghaziabad who have left the BSP. There was nothing left for us to stay back in the BSP. The ideology and the working culture have gone down the drains and money rules.”

Shrikant said the Tyagis have a strong hold in western UP. “Tyagis’ collective vote share in western UP is 1,370,000. We will mobilise these voters to follow Mauryaji. Meerut, Moradabad, Ghaziabad, and Saharanpur are the places where our networks are strong and we’ll inform people here about what the BSP has really become,” Shrikant said.

Speaking about the Friday meeting that was held in Lucknow, Shrikant said: “The meeting was attended by representatives of various constituencies. Ten people including the legislator, block development committee member, district president and former BSP party workers came to represent their constituencies. All those who attended the meeting believe in Maurya and agreed to be led by him. Everybody in the meeting shared their ideas through recommendation letters.”

When asked about their action plan, Tyagi said, “We have already started to form our committees through which we’ll mobilise voters against Mayawati. I can tell you that our people in western UP no longer belong to the BSP and Mayawati won’t be able to win this time with her money.”

Tyagi added, “We will fill the Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan with Maurya ji’s supporters. Mayawati will become the butt of jokes because we will prove our strength on 22 September.”