Tribune News ServiceNew Delhi, October 22
In a swift action against the growing dissidence in its Uttar Pradesh unit, the BJP today suspended two rebel legislators for anti-party activities in the state.
Sending a clear message to the cadre that the party was not going to tolerate indiscipline, the BJP suspended veteran MLA Ganga Bhakt Singh and MLC Ramasheesh Rai, both of whom had held senior posts in the party earlier.
The decision was taken by the UP unit of the party after the coordination committee today talked to the dissident group one by one.
According to party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, most of the legislators denied having links with the rebel group. Some legislators, whom the
committee wanted to talk to were not in town.
The process will be completed by tonight or tomorrow morning.
At Lucknow BJP sources said Mr Ganga Bhakt Singh and Mr Rai had been suspended for gross indiscipline and would be served a show-cause notice by tomorrow in this regard.
The sources said the action against the two had been taken for floating a new forum.
The BJP central office-bearers at their two-day meeting in Mumbai on October 19 and 20 had taken a serious view of the dissident activities and decided to take stern action against those flouting party norms.
Mr Naqvi maintained that there were no threat to the Mayawati government and said the BJP was satisfied with the functioning of the coalition government under her.
In reply to a question whether the party would press Ms Mayawati to accommodate more BJP members in her ministry, he said it was her prerogative. As of now there was no such proposal.
The rebel BJP leaders, who claim the support of about 30 legislators, will meet in Lucknow
tomorrow to chalk out their strategy.
However, refusing to indicate any national leader’s involvement in provoking the state legislators for the dissident activities, state party vice-president Satyadeo Singh said the state leadership had already identified some leaders having a nexus with these rebel leaders. “We will disclose the names of these leaders at an appropriate time”, he said.
Uttar Pradesh’s BJP leadership, including Mr Vinay Katiyar and Mr Kalraj Misra, spoke to the MLAs whose names had figured in the reports of dissidence.
However, Mr Naqvi said the state unit had assured that there has been “no large-scale dissidence” in the state and that most of the MLAs had given in writing that they had nothing to do with the protest following the recent expansion of the Council of Ministers in the state.
Asked about those who had not given such an undertaking, he said a couple of them were outside Lucknow and the party could not contact them as yet.
Claiming that the BJP-BSP coalition in UP was “strong”,
he said Chief Minister Mayawati’s relations with the BJP were “cordial”.
A warning note was sounded by Deputy Prime Minister L.K.Advani in Mumbai yesterday telling the dissidents “to fall in line and not to cross the “Laxmanrekha”.
Meanwhile, BJP President Venkaiah Naidu has asked party general secretary Rajnath Singh to rush to Lucknow.
