Paswan joins Maurya, accuses Mayawati of auctioning party tickets

Hours after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief Mayawati came under attack from a former colleague for "auctioning" party tickets in the run up to the Uttar Pradesh polls, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan too accused the former state chief minister of making ticket distribution a "business" before every election.

"Mayawati has never served the interest of Dalits. She has always made this (ticket distribution) a business," Paswan told reporters here.

Both Paswan and Mayawati claim to cater to the welfare of Dalits with the former establishing his roots in Bihar while BSP chief Mayawati has essentially remained strong in Uttar Pradesh.

Paswan has lately evinced interest that his party LJP will also contest the forthcoming assembly elections in UP in coordination with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Paswan's remarks came after senior leader Swamy Prasad Maurya quit the party saying he felt "suffocated" as Mayawati was "selling" party tickets and had given up the principles and ideology of party founder Kanshi Ram.

"The cost of the ticket rises close to elections, Mayawati never had great liking of Dalits but only for money," Paswan said.

Earlier, at a press conference, Maurya had said "Tickets are being openly auctioned by Mayawati on a large scale. She is not making the right choice of candidates. Tickets are not only on sale in the party, they are being auctioned".

The BSP chief has, however, denied the charge and instead said Maurya was only trying to get assembly tickets for his family members.

--IANS

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