Bsp Admits Selective Criminalisation Of Politics

The party fielded candidates with criminal antecedents in the 1996 polls to counter the influence of Samajwadi Party, says Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) vice-president Mayawati yesterday admitted that her party had resorted to selective counter-criminalisation of politics to check the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh.

Announcing the decision to expel DP Yadav and two other BSP MPs for anti-party activities, she accused Yadav of having criminal antecedents but said her party had fielded him in the 1996 parliamentary polls to counter people with such antecedents in the Samajwadi Party.

Reiterating that her party would not field criminals as candidates in the coming general elections, she told newsmen here, Now we are of the view that the party should keep only good people and not the criminals. Hence, the expulsion.

 

Besides DP Yadav, the two others expelled are Ilyas Azmi and Budhsen Patel. All three leaders had resigned yesterday from the BSP accusing party president Kanshi Ram and Mayawati of adopting dictatorial attitude.

Mayawati denied press reports that five of its ex-MPs had quit the party and claimed two of them, Mohan Singh and Sukhlal Kushwaha, were very much with the BSP. She termed as baseless the claim made by DP Yadav in New Delhi of all the five MPs resigning.

Mayawati said the decision to expel Yadav, Ajmi and Patel was taken soon after they had written to President KR Narayanan against the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.

Asked why the decision was not made public so long, she said these leaders did not deserve any publicity or media attention.

Mayawati reiterated that the BSP would contest the coming Lok Sabha elections independently in Uttar Pradesh and would have no truck with any party. She said her party would field candidates in at least 300 Lok Sabha seats and would like to ensure win in at least ten per cent of the seats so that it would have a vital role to play in the formation of the next government at the Centre.