BSP defectors join hands against Maya for LS poll

Opening another front against their former 8216;boss8217; Mayawati, BSP defectors are coming together to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections for all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh targeting the ruling party8217;s traditional dalit vote bank.

With 8220;oust Mayawati8221; as their motto, a number of small parties have come together under the banner of 8216;Parivartan Morcha8217; led by Sonelal Patel of Apna Dal which has held four rallies till now to make a dent in the dalit vote bank.

Besides Apna Dal, the Morcha will constitute Udit Raj8217;s Indian Justice Party IJP, Masood Ahmad8217;s National Loktantrik Party NLP, RK Chaudhary-led BS4 and Rajaram Pal8217;s Bhartiya Sarvodaya Kranti Party BSKP, Sonelal Patel told PTI.

The aim of the Morcha will be to make its presence felt in the political circuit of Uttar Pradesh targeting dalits and poor on all 80 seats, he said.

Except Udit Raj of IJP, all other leaders of the alliance had been associated with the BSP in past. Apna Dal chief Sonelal Patel was BSP8217;s general secretary way back in 1993.

Following difference with the top brass, he left the party and floated his own political outfit.

Similar was the case with RK Chaudhary, an independent MLA now, who was a dedicated BSP functionary.

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Chaudhary enjoyed a ministerial berth in the previous BSP government.

However, after his relations with the party turned sour, Chaudhary rebelled and contested Assembly election as an independent supported by the BJP. He later floated BS4.

Bhartiya Sarvodaya Kranti Party chief Rajaram Pal was a BSP MP, before being disqualified from Parliament after his name figured in the cash-for-query scam. He was subsequently expelled from the party.

Though Udit Raj had no BSP connection, but he is well-known for his anti-Mayawati stand.

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NLP chief Masood Ahmad was the education minister under Mayawati during her previous stint as chief minister. He was 8220;unceremoniously8221; shown the door from the BSP with his official bungalow being forcibly vacated by the government.

The new Morcha, leaders said, was more of a compulsion for the small parties so as to become a force to reckon with.

Though Apna Dal is more than a decade old, it is yet to open its account either in the Lok Sabha or the state assembly. It has allied with major parties during the past decade, but failed to break the jinx.

In the last election, it forged an alliance with the BJP and the Janata Dal United but could not revive its prospects.

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Similar has been the case with the Indian Justice Party, which resolved to dent the BSP8217;s vote bank in the last election, but failed to make any impact in the state8217;s political scene.

Nevertheless, the Morcha leaders are hopeful that this time they will definitely make inroads into BSP8217;s vote bank in the crucial state by putting up a united front.