BSP miffed by ‘hijacking’ of party candidate

Bhopal: BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday asked her cadres in the Guna Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh to avenge the recent move by Congress to take into its fold her local candidate Lokendra Singh and “hit the prospects” of AICC general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is seeking re-election from the seat, by selecting the elephant symbol.

Ms Mayawati’s call may divide non-BJP votes in Guna, spelling trouble for Mr Scindia in the elections, BSP leaders feel.

Guna is going to the polls in the sixth phase of the parliamentary elections on May 12.

“Our party candidate has been hijacked by the Congress. We have decided to avenge it by casting our votes for the party symbol. That is the instruction by Behen ji (Mayawati) to party workers in Guna,” president of MP unit of BSP D.P. Choudhury said.

According to him, BSP has a strong electoral base in Guna comprising around three lakh voters. “We will foil the designs by Congress by casting our votes for the BSP’s symbol, which will split non-BJP votes in the seat,” a senior BSP leader said.

The BSP is not in a position to field a fresh candidate in Guna after its official candidate withdrew from the race by joining the Congress since the last day for filing nomination for the seat had passed. Mr Singh had announced that he would withdraw from the contest after joining the Congress.

In a related development, MP chief minister Kamal Nath on Wedne-sday reached out Ms Mayawati to resolve the issue in a damage control exercise, a Congress spokesman disclosed.

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