Major rejig in BSP, Naseemuddin shifted to MP as coordinator

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati today carried out a major organisational rejig in her party shifting senior leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui to Madhya Pradesh as co-ordinator and dissolving all the committees.
The BSP had suffered a humiliating defeat in the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections where the party could win only 19 seats out of the total 403 seats. Before that the party had failed to win a single seat in the Lok Sabha polls.
Mayawati, who held an important meeting of party leaders last night, carried out a major reshuffle to reorganise the organisation, party sources said here today.

In a move that raised eyebrows, she shifted senior party leader and former minister Siddiqui to Madhya Pradesh as coordinator.
Siddiqui, the Muslim face of the party, was till now in-charge of UP has also been given the charge of Lucknow zone.
Mayawati also introduced younger brother Anand Kumar, who she had on April 14 made the vice president of the BSP to party leaders and workers in the meeting. Anand was also accompanied by his London-educated son, who too was introduced by Mayawati.

To revamp her party, Mayawati also dissolved the existing team of zonal, divisional and district coordinators besides the 'bhaichara' (brotherhood) committees set up to woo different castes and communities like Brahmins, Thakur and Muslims.

Mayawati has announced that after a gap of more than two decades BSP will contest the coming civic body polls in the state on party symbol, a shift from her earlier stance of staying away from such polls.
The last time her party had contested the local urban body polls on symbol was in 1995.
Reviewing the political situation, Mayawati yesterday directed the leaders to increase the BSP's support base among the sarv samaj while facing new challenges.
"There is a need to work with renewed vigour and missionary zeal through a new strategy to deal with new challenges before the BSP movement," she had said.