20 BSP MLAs may quit party
According to sources, a number of party legislators are preparing to desert the BSP and most of them are either dalits or OBCs.
Lucknow: After the exit of Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and senior OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya from the Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday, the BSP may now witness the exodus of over 20 legislators in the coming weeks.
According to sources, a number of party legislators are preparing to desert the BSP and most of them are either dalits or OBCs.
Mr Maurya, who was the party’s most senior OBC leader, enjoyed a good rapport with party MLAs as leader of the BSP Legislature Party.
“We had been talking to Mr Maurya about the growing domination of non-Dalits and non-OBCs in the party and he told us to be patient. Now that he has exited, we are also finalising our options,” said one such BSP MLA.
Most of the legislators on Thursday admitted that they were feeling “stifled and suffocated” in the party but continued to remain in the Bahujan Samajwadi Party because of the Dalit support in their constituencies.