Rebel leaders pose a threat to Mayawati's fiefdom in the party

At least six BSP leaders are getting ready to challenge Mayawati for her "deviation from the path shown by Kanshi Ram". Another seven suspended BSP leaders are strategising ways to campaign against her during the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Listen to Story

Advertisement
Mayawati

BSP chief Mayawati

Rebellion is brewing in the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) much to the discomfiture of party supremo Mayawati.

At least six BSP leaders are getting ready to challenge Mayawati for her "deviation from the path shown by Kanshi Ram". Another seven suspended BSP leaders are strategising ways to campaign against her during the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

On Wednesday, Dalit leader and former Uttar Pradesh rural development minister Daddu Prasad was suspended from the party.

advertisement

According to sources, with Prasad's suspension disenchantment in the party has come to the fore - a challenge staring at the BSP chief. But Mayawati will face a tougher challenge when some of the top party leaders plan to launch an all-out attack against her just before the Assembly elections.

Former Uttar Pradesh rural development minister Daddu Prasad was suspended from the BSP on Wednesday.

Referring to Prasad's suspension from the party, BSP state unit chief Ram Achal Rajbhar said, "He was warned several times in the past about his activities.

But he was not willing to change himself." Prasad was the BSP in-charge of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Observers point out that this is the first time Mayawati is facing such challenges from those leaders who had gained prominence under her leadership. Prasad always followed Mayawati's orders without fail. But now the same man is strategising how to "expose the BSP chief's lust for money". He is set to hold a series of meetings across Uttar Pradesh in this regard.

Rajya Sabha member and Dalit leader Jugal Kishore

"The Dalits and the backwards have deserted BSP. Kanshi Ram, the party's founder, has been forgotten. I was kept away from Bundelkhand for three years. But now I am back to the region to fight against injustice in the party," Prasad said on Thursday in Banda, his hometown. He also alleged that getting a ticket in BSP was not possible without paying lakhs of rupees to the party chief.

A similar allegation was recently made by Rajya Sabha member and Dalit leader Jugal Kishore who claimed that Mayawati was demanding money to allot party tickets for the 2017 Assembly elections.

Kishore was later suspended from the party. Earlier, leaders like Dara Singh Chauhan, Akhilesh Das, Kadir Rana, Shahid Akhlaq and Ramashankar Vidyarathi were also suspended from the party for challenging Mayawati's authority. Now, these leaders have cobbled up a team to challenge Mayawati and have decided to launch a campaign against her "high handedness" and "valueless" politics.