Mayawati expels Shamsuddin Rain citing indiscipline; BSP leader says missed call to blame

BSP UP state president Vishwanath Pal said in a statement that Rain has been expelled because he indulged in indiscipline and was encouraging factionalism in the party. He further stated that Rain was given a warning several times in the past, but did not mend his ways. “He has been expelled in the interest of the party and the movement,” Pal said.

Rain was a prominent Muslim leader of the BSP who mostly looked after the party affairs in western UP after Mayawati expelled ex-minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui in 2017. Siddiqui later joined the Congress. Originally from Jhansi district, Rain served as in-charge of party affairs in different mandal units across Uttar Pradesh in the past two decades and also in Uttarakhand during the 2022 Assembly polls.

On the allegation of factionalism, a senior BSP leader said, “Party president had got information related to anomalies in the distribution of tickets in the areas of his supervision in the past elections. Also, he removed hard-working workers and leaders from the organisational responsibilities in the units under his command. He was also upset with Lucknow mandal unit leaders because the party had not been included in the organising committee constituted for the October 9 rally in Lucknow.”

However, when contacted, Rain rejected all the allegations and called the action against him a sudden and surprising move. “It happened just because I could not receive the phone call from Behanji today. I was not well. I called back after nearly one hour. By that time, she had gotten upset with me,” Rain said, calling it a possible reason for action against him.

Calling Mayawati his “political guru”, Rain said that she gave him the opportunity to serve from booth units to coordinator and in-charge of the party in different areas of the state. He also said that he was hopeful to get inducted back into the BSP once she had calmed down.