BSP cadre may marry anyone cutting across party lines, says Mayawati

BSP chief Mayawati has refuted reports that a leader was expelled from the party for getting his son married to the daughter of an SP legislator. She asserted that the BSP cadre was free to marry anyone cutting across party lines.

Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Rampur district unit president Surendra Sagar's son recently tied the knot with the daughter of Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA from Alapur in Ambedkar Nagar district Tribhuvan Dutt. Earlier, Dutt was associated with the BSP but joined the SP before the 2022 UP Assembly elections.

In a series of posts on X in Hindi on Friday night, Mayawati said  Sagar and the current district president of BSP in Rampur, Pramod Kumar, were expelled from the party due to a simmering dispute between them and had nothing to do with the marriage.

 

"The quarrel between former party president of Rampur district Surendra Sagar and current party president Pramod Kumar was at its peak due to which the party's work was suffering. Both of them were expelled and it has got nothing to do with the marriage," Mayawati said.

"The party (BSP) is not concerned with the personal relationships of its cadre. People are free to marry anyone they want. It all depends on their thinking. But be cautious of those who spread false propaganda about this," Mayawati said.

In another tweet, Mayawati said party members were barred from attending the wedding of former BSP MP Munqad Ali's son because his daughter contested the state Assembly by-election from Meerapur on an SP ticket.

SP candidate from Meerapur Assembly constituency Sumbul Rana is married to former MP Qadir Rana's son Shah Mohammad.

"The BSP also contested the seat. In such a situation, there was a general discussion about possible clashes between the people of both parties at the wedding.

To avoid this, the party was forced to take this step. But the way it is being publicised is not right," Mayawati said.

Rashtriya Lok Dal's Mithlesh Pal won the bypoll in Meerapur constituency in Muzaffarnagar district.

Pal bagged 84,304 votes, defeating her nearest rival Rana by 30,796 votes. BSP candidate Shahnazar finished at the fifth spot garnering 3,248 votes.