Lucknow, Dec 14 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Monday expelled her Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) general secretary Shahid Siddiqui from the party.
Siddiqui’s exit came within hours of the publication of his interview in a national English daily where he sought to brand Mayawati as a despot.

Carried on the front page of the Indian Express, the report was headlined “Mayawati comes, speaks, goes, there’s no discussion”. With a few hours of the report, her trusted lieutenant and multiple portfolio cabinet minister Babu Singh Kushwaha issued a press statement announcing Siddiqui’s ouster.

Siddiqui, who was with the Samajwadi Party, was inducted into the BSP with much fanfare and nominated the party’s national general secretary in 2008.

“Siddiqui left the Samajwadi Party over its support to the (Indo-US) nuclear deal, which had left many Muslims disillusioned with SP,” said the press release.

“Right from day one, Siddiqui had been told in no uncertain terms to maintain discipline and not indulge in self promotion as BSP was not like other political parties. But he refused to mend his ways and was angling to get an entry into the Rajya Sabha. However, our party president gave him a Lok Sabha ticket for Bijnore that was BSP’s traditional stronghold; yet he fared poorly and failed to retain the seat, largely because he could not give up his hobnobbing with SP,” Kushwaha stated.

According to Kushwaha, “Siddiqui made it worse by making irresponsible statements in the media”.

That, he added, was really unfortunate as the BSP does not allow people to “pursue their personal agenda in the party nor does it have any room for sycophancy”.

“We believe in total commitment to the cause of upliftment of the poor and downtrodden and anyone deviating from that path has no place in our party.”