Quick on the draw, Mayawati lashed out at Maurya calling him a "dal badlu" (party hopper). "I would have thrown him out of the party had he not resigned," she fumed at a press conference soon after Maurya announced his decision to quit the BSP.
BSP chief Mayawati's grandiose plans for the upcoming UP election suffered a major setback on Wednesday as her long-time lieutenant, BSP national general secretary and leader of the Opposition in the UP Assembly Swami Prasad Maurya quit the party alleging that 'Behn ji' was selling party tickets for the Assembly election.
Quick on the draw, Mayawati lashed out at Maurya calling him a "dal badlu" (party hopper). "I would have thrown him out of the party had he not resigned," she fumed at a press conference soon after Maurya announced his decision to quit the BSP.
Political watchers said the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) had virtually pulled the rug from under Mayawati's feet by engineering the highly unexpected desertion by a top-rung BSP leader just when 'Behn ji' was prepping for a tough electoral battle. However, SP has denied any role in Maurya's resignation.
But, sources say he would soon be joining the SP. Maurya's meetings with senior SP leaders Shivpal Yadav and Azam Khan soon after he quit strengthened this speculation.
"I was feeling suffocated in the BSP," said Maurya who has been a BSP state president and a senior minister in Mayawati regimes. "Behn Mayawati ji has murdered the principles of (BSP founder) Kanshi Ram ji and Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. She is openly selling election tickets. The BSP has become a market for candidates bidding for BSP tickets," he said.
However, Mayawati lashed back saying Maurya had quit after his demand for BSP tickets for his son and daughter was turned down. "We had given tickets to him, his son and his daughter in the 2012 election. He should tell the media how much he paid for it?" an angry BSP chief asked. Maurya and both of his children had lost the election.
"BSP does not encourage such nepotism. I have thrown out half a dozen MLAs because they were more interested in promoting their family members than working for the party," Mayawati said. "It's good that such a habitual party hopper has left before the election," she quipped.
Mayawati's bluster apart, the fact remains that the BSP has lost one of its strongest backward leaders, and it shouldn't be long before BSP's loss becomes SP's gain.
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