LUCKNOW: BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday expelled senior party leader and one time close aide Naseemuddin Siddiqui, along with his son Afzal for anti-party activities. Siddiqui has been charged with accepting bribe in return for work.
Sharing information about the BSP supremo’s decision, national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra said the party had been receiving complaints about Naseemuddin Siddiqui’s involvement in corrupt
practices for a while.
Mishra accused him of not fulfilling his responsibilities in earnest during the recently-concluded Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly polls. He also pointed out that Siddiqui had a number of benami properties in western Uttar Pradesh apart from having a number of illegal slaughterhouses.
The veteran leader, who once used to be a close confidante of party chief Mayawati, was accused of indulging in indiscipline. “He was called by Behen Mayawatiji, but he did not turn up despite repeated reminders,” Mishra said. Siddiqui was suddenly pushed to the boundary by chief Mayawati in a re-formulated scheme of social engineering after the major drubbing of 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 UP Assembly polls.
The blue brigade’s tallest Muslim leader till Tuesday was gradually pushed into political oblivion in the State by the leadership. Later on, he was given the charge of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. However, he struggled to retain his post of party general secretary and his stature in the blue brigade.
BSP had only two general secretaries, both Maya’s close aides —SC Mishra and Nassimuddin Siddiqui. According to the political grapevine, Mayawati felt Siddiqui, who has addressed as many rallies as Mayawati during the UP polls, failed to mobilise the minority support in the party’s favour.
Of late, the BSP has been facing the crisis of a second line of leadership. With several senior leaders including Swami Prasad Maurya and Brijesh Pathak leaving the party ahead of the UP polls, Mayawati was left with just two of her lieutenants.