Ahead of civic polls in Lucknow, parties plagued by ‘rebel trouble’

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has expelled 35 rebels trying their luck in the elections against the party’s official candidates in the city

LUCKNOW All major political parties are facing the challenge of ‘internal opponents’ ahead of the civic polls scheduled in the state capital on May 4.

Civic polls are scheduled in the state capital on May 4. (Pic for representation)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has shown the door to 35 rebels trying their luck in the elections against their own official candidates in the city. On Monday, the party organization expelled these rebels for six years. On the other hand, SP leader and former minister of state, Amit Tripathi, and women’s commission member Mala Dwivedi switched over to the BJP along with their supporters.

BJP district president Mukesh Sharma issued the order for the expulsion of the rebels on the instructions of party’s state president Bhupendra Singh. In the order, it was stated that these members are contesting as independents against the official candidates of the party. While some are themselves in the electoral fray, others have fielded their family members, which is damaging the prospects of the party.

Those expelled include the names of outgoing corporators Dilip Srivastava, Amit Maurya, Subhashini Maurya, former deputy mayor Suresh Awasthi and Anurag Pandey.

According to former deputy chief minister and former mayor Dinesh Sharma, all the partymen had been given adequate time to explain their actions against the party before the decision to expel them was taken.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Ashutosh Varma said, “The Samajwadi Party has a strong base among voters, so it is not going to be affected by these defections. This time, Lucknow is set to have a Samajwadi mayor and an LMC House dominated by the Samajwadi Party.”