Mayawati mocks SP after BSP rebel MLAs meet Akhilesh Yadav; says 'expelled them long ago'

A day after 9 rebel BSP MLAs met Akhilesh Yadav, former UP CM Mayawati lashed out at the Samajwadi Party for trying to portray a split in her party. Contending that SP practises the "disgusting" politics of horsetrading, revenge and casteism, she pointed out that the MLAs in question- Hakim Lal Bind, Vandana Singh, Ramveer Upadhyay, Anil Kumar Singh, Aslam Raini, Aslam Ali, Mujtaba Siddiqui, Hargovind Bhargava and Sushma Patel had been expelled ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in October 2020. They were accused of collaborating with SP in a bid to defeat BSP's candidate Ramji Gautam.

Tweeting on Wednesday, BSP supremo Mayawati stated, "If the SP was even a little bit sincere, it would not have kept these expelled legislators in uncertainty. Because it knows that if it inducts these BSP MLAs, it will lead to a revolt within the party and leaders will join BSP. It is well established that SP is not at all willing to change its functioning and character which is anti-Dalit."

To buttress her point, she recalled that the SP government had stopped public works initiated during her tenure besides putting a stay on the decision to create Sant Ravidas Nagar district. On this occasion, Mayawati also opined that SP enacted the "drama" of pitching the possible entry of these aforesaid legislators into the party owing to the election for crucial posts at the Panchayat level. Ahead of the 2022 UP elections, she reiterated that BJP continues to represent the aspirations of the people. 

Rebel BSP MLAs hint at forming a new party

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, BJP won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House whereas BSP could win only 19 seats. On the other hand, the SP-Congress alliance failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies. But, the Mayawati-led party has merely 7 MLAs in the Assembly at present as one member resigned after winning the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and two more legislators- Lalji Verma and Ram Achal Rajbhar were recently expelled. 

Speaking to Republic TV after the meeting with Akhilesh Yadav a day earlier, MLA Aslam Raini claimed that the rebels will form a separate party ahead of the 2022 UP elections. Moreover, he revealed that had met the Vidhan Sabha Speaker to discuss the formation of the new party and informed that Lalji Verma would be its chief. Maintaining that they were unhappy with the treatment meted out to Verma and Rajbhar, he did not rule out the new party working closely with SP in the future.