Ahead of polls, BJP expel 28 functionaries in Ghaziabad for ‘anti-party activities’

The action continued on Wednesday as well, with the BJP’s regional president (western UP) Satendra Shishodia issuing another list naming six more members

Cracks in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit of Ghaziabad split wide open late Tuesday night after the party expelled 23 of its sitting councillors, as well as former and current organisation members, accusing them of “anti-party activities” in 19 different wards of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation.

The office of the mayoral candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Sunita Dayal, in Raj Nagar in Ghaziabad on Wednesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The action continued on Wednesday as well, with the BJP’s regional president (western UP) Satendra Shishodia issuing another list naming six more members.

The expulsion comes a day before the city goes to local body polls on May 11, but party functionaries insisted that the action will not have any impact on BJP’s prospects.

Shishodia issued two lists naming 28 expelled members and listing them ward-wise. “It came to our notice that many of those who were expelled were even using photographs of PM Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath in their election campaigns. In all, 29 persons were named in the list but later one name was removed. So, overall, 28 have been expelled and their expulsion will not impact the party’s performance,” Shishodia said.

Some of those expelled by the party alleged that party workers were overlooked by senior leaders and tickets were distributed in a “biased manner”.

“I have been a party worker for the past 35 years and my name was among three that were proposed for councillor tickets. None of the three names figured in list of candidates but a turncoat, who joined the party and had lost his previous election, was given a ticket from my ward. Likewise, many of the candidates from different reserved categories have been given tickets on general seats this time,” said Vinit Sharma, party’s former mandal adhyaksh from Raj Nagar.

Likewise, Manoj Goel, party’s sitting councillor from Kaushambi, alleged that the BJP panel overlooked his work and his wife’s candidature despite 15 members of a selection panel being in favour of giving her a ticket.

“The ticket was later given to a candidate from one of the reserved categories even though it is a general seat. The candidate and her husband are turncoats and have no knowledge of the problems faced by Kaushambi. The people of Kaushambi then urged my wife to contest as an independent. Even though the party has expelled me, there are party workers on the ground level who are supporting me and my work,” Goel said.

The list also includes ward 83 independent councillor Kusum Singh and her husband SP Singh who was a former mandal adhyaksh of the party.

“My wife contested on a BJP ticket in 2006 and won; she also won as independent in 2012 and 2017. We are not associated with the party but our names have been circulated in the list to malign our image and cause damage to our election prospects. My wife is contesting again as independent and has a presence among people due to her work. The BJP this time has given ticket to a candidate from one of the reserved categories even though the seat is general. We supported the BJP during the assembly and general elections but our efforts were overlooked by the party,” said SP Singh.

Refuting these allegations, BJP functionaries said the tickets distribution was done in a transparent manner.

“The distribution of tickets is decided by the party and the party’s decision is final. The distribution is based on many factors in order to ensure that the most suitable candidate, who can win the seat, is selected,”Shishodia said

He added that the party in 2017, had 58 councillors and the target this time is to increase it to 70 seats in the corporation.