Lucknow: The ongoing zilla panchayat elections have sent the Samajwadi Party on a sacking spree.
More and more party leaders are defying the Samajwadi choice of candidates and are fielding their own relatives, leading to a rebellion of sorts within the party.
After suspending Bijnore MLA Ruchi Vira and expelling her husband Udayan Vira from the party, the Samajwadi Party has now suspended its sitting MLA from Sitapur, Ram Pal Yadav, and expelled his son Jitendra Yadav for anti-party activities.
The MLA’s son had filed his nomination for the district panchayat chairman’s post against the party’s nominated candidate.
SP has also shown the door to Yashvir Singh, former MP from Nagina, former Bijnore district president Jamil Ansari and chairman Sheikh Khalil-ur-Rehman.
Sources said that Kuldeep Sengar, SP MLA from Unnao, was next in the firing line because his wife had filed her nomination paper against the party’s official candidate.
Two other senior leaders in Gorakhpur, Kalishankar Yadav and Ramesh Yadav have also been expelled from the party while many others have been served a show cause notice. The party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said that action was being taken against those who were violating party discipline but added that the ‘numbers are minimal’.
“Of the 74 districts, where elections for the post of district Panchayat Chairman are going on, the SP has won unopposed in 36 districts, including Amethi. It is a massive success for the party and speaks volumes about the popularity of the Akhilesh government,” he added.
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