Mayawati cracks the whip

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati finally cracked the whip after her party’s poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections. In a sweeping decision, she removed the in-charges of party units in Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The BSP chief also replaced the state unit presidents of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The results of the Lok Sabha elections were announced on May 23.

Samajwadi Party, the alliance partner of the BSP, is yet to make a formal review of the causes of its worst-ever poll debacle and take corrective action.

BSP’s Delhi unit president Surendra Singh has been replaced by Laxman Singh. In Madhya Pradesh, Ramakant Puttal has been appointed as the new state president in place of DP Chaudhary. The party’s Uttarakhand state chief has also been removed and ML Tomar appointed in his place.

Mayawati, who is camping in Delhi, has called a meeting of party state presidents and in-charges on June 3 to review the causes of the poor performance of the party in the crucial Lok Sabha elections.

Sources in the BSP said 40 co-coordinators and zonal coordinators of the party in Uttar Pradesh had also been called for the meeting on Monday.

The BSP had contested 38 seats in UP in alliance with Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal. However, it could manage to win only 10 seats while the SP bagged only five. The RLD could not open its account.

The alliance had supported Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and United Progressive Alliance chairperson in Rae Bareli. However, only Sonia Gandhi could retain her seat while Rahul Gandhi was defeated by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Smriti Irani.