BSP chief Mayawati blames rot on internal forces

LUCKNOW: Apparently hurt by rebellion and defections in the party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati sought to put the blame for the party’s decline on ‘internal forces’ allegedly working against its interests while being a part of it.

Presiding over a meeting of party office-bearers here on Thursday, the BSP supremo cautioned the workers that the party was facing a bigger threat from “selfish” elements within the party than from the ruling BJP. She cautioned the cadre to be vigilant against such elements who were destroying the Dalit movement for their own vested interests.

“Beware of the internal forces which are out to destroy the party owing to their slave mentality and vested interests,” she said while warning the cadre during a closed-door meeting here.Mayawati made the observations four days after expelled BSP leaders Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Pramod Kureel joined hands and decided to float a new outfit to take on the former CM.

The BSP has been sailing in troubled waters for quite some time now. Having depleted numbers in the state legislature, the party faces an unending rebellion by senior leaders who once were the face of the party.In the recent past, two very senior leaders  MLC Thakur Jaiveer Singh and party national general secretary Indrajeet Saroj  parted ways from the blue brigade. While Jaiveer Singh joined the BJP, Saroj, a two-time cabinet minister in the Mayawati government, is weighing his options.