Retired MLCs dumped by BSP, shunned by SP, BJP

Dumped by the Bahujan Samaj Party and shunned by the Samajwadi Party and the Bhartiya Janata Party, nearly two dozen former members of the UP Legislative Council, who retired in January, have nowhere to go.

Thirty-four out of the 36 MLCs, belonging to the BSP, retired in January and were expecting to be re-nominated by the party.

The BSP did a volte-face and nominated only three of the 34 retiring MLCs, leaving the remaining 31 in a lurch. The party named Manoj Kumar (Barabanki), Ashok Katiyar (Kanpur) and Tribhuvan Narain (Mirzapur) — the latter being the elder brother of retiring MLC Vineet Singh.

Some of these retiring MLCs had been in touch with the Samajwadi Party and the BJP and were confident of getting a ticket from these parties. However, both SP and BJP refused to consider these leaders as their party candidates at the last minute.

“The BSP has named only eight candidates. The party high command was well aware that some of our MLCs had been hobnobbing with other parties and Ms Mayawati decided to teach them a lesson at the last minute. These leaders tried to betray us and now they have been betrayed by SP and BJP,” said a BSP functionary.

However, according to party sources, some of the “loyal” MLCs who retired in January, have been assured a ticket for the Assembly elections by Ms Mayawati.

For instance, Vineet Singh has been asked to prepare to contest the Syed Raza Assembly seat in Chandauli.