E-Paper
Two BSP leaders join Congress
NEW DELHI: In the season of defections, two Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leaders — Brij Lal Khabri and Dhuru Ram Lodhi — joined the Congress on Monday.
NEW DELHI: In the season of defections, two Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leaders — Brij Lal Khabri and Dhuru Ram Lodhi — joined the Congress on Monday.
Both Khabri — a former MP and a Dalit leader — and Lodhi, an ex-minister, accused BSP chief Mayawati of distributing party tickets in return of money, a charge made by some other leaders who quit the party in recent months.
“Everyone has to pay money to Mayawati for tickets in elections at various levels,” they told reporters at a press briefing at the Congress headquarters in Delhi.
“Neither any loyalist, nor anyone from Mayawati’s community is exception to this rule of giving money for a BSP ticket,” Khabri alleged.
Lodhi, a three-term legislator, said money was also sought from him despite being among those who protected Mayawati during the state guest house incident when she was attacked by Samajwadi Party workers.
“They sought some amount saying margin money required,” he alleged.
The two leaders also accused Mayawati of moving away from the principles of BR Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram.
Several BSP leaders, including Swami Prasad Maurya, have left the party in the run-up to the polls, launching a scathing attack on Mayawati over her style of functioning.
The two leaders joined in presence of Congress general secretary in charge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad, UP chief Raj Babbar and state campaign committee chief Sanjay Singh.
