BSP’s Sahibabad MLA Amarpal Sharma expelled for anti-party activities
The sitting BSP MLA from Sahibabad in Ghaziabad district, Amarpal Sharma had been accused of indiscipline and not devoting enough time to his constituency
In a surprise move, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Monday t expelled its sitting Sahibabad MLA Amarpal Sharma on charges of indulging in “anti party activities.” A letter to this effect was issued by BSP’s Ghaziabad district president Premchand Bharti.
“Sharma does not maintain coordination with locals and party workers. Party workers are upset with him for not giving enough time to the constituency and feel he should neither be given a ticket to contest the upcoming polls nor allowed to remain in the party,” Bharti said.
He claimed Sharma stays away from party meetings, cadre camps and other deliberations and mostly prefers to camp in Delhi instead.
“He has been expelled from the party on account of indiscipline and anti-party activities. The decision was conveyed by the BSP leadership,” he said.
Despite repeated attempts, Sharma couldn’t be reached for his version of events. He is believed to be in touch with the party brass since being issued the letter by Bharti.
The sitting MLA from the Sahibabad assembly segment in Ghaziabad, Sharma trounced BJP’s Sunil Sharma, who was elected MLA from the seat in 2007, by 24,348 votes during the 2012 state polls. He is a Brahmin and enjoys popular support in such major votebank areas as Khoda, Makanpur, and Jhandapur.
Sharma was named along with three other sitting BSP MLA’s from Ghaziabad in the party’s list of candidates for the upcoming state polls. The list was rolled out on January 5, a day after the Election Commission announced the poll dates for five states, including UP, and imposed the model code of conduct.
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Speculations are rife that Sharma could gravitate to the saffron camp and be one of the BJP’s nominees from Ghaziabad. The name of Pankaj Singh, elder son of Union home minister Rajnath Singh, is also doing rounds as a contender for the Sahibabad constituency or any of the seats in Gautam Budh Nagar. Pankaj is the BJP state general secretary in the UP.
The BJP still hasn’t declared its list of candidates for the first phase of UP polls. The party’s central election committee held a meeting on Sunday and was expected to roll out its list of candidates. However, there’s no word on when the names will be out.
Sharma’s expulsion means that the party would have to declare a new candidate from Sahibabad.
“The party will decide the Sahibabad candidate within the next couple of days, ” Bharti said.
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