MLAs get earful as Maya plugs leaks

Former chief minister and BSP vice-president Mayawati today slammed the party MLAs who had recently switched loyalties to support Samajwadi ...

Former chief minister and BSP vice-president Mayawati today slammed the party MLAs who had recently switched loyalties to support Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s efforts to form an alternative government in the state.

Addressing the legislature party meeting of BSP here, Mayawati criticised those who left the party for ‘‘greener pastures’’ and said the masses would teach them a lesson. She was referring to the 14 BSP MLAs who openly rebelled against her earlier this week to support Yadav, who was sworn in as the new Chief Minister on Thursday last, after three days of political drama.

‘‘Those who leave the BSP would never get a chance to return,’’ she added addressing party legislators and coordinators at the meeting where the media was not allowed.

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Sources claimed that over 85 of the 109 party MLAs attended the meet where Mayawati warned them against falling into the trap of the rumours spread by the Opposition that the party was on the verge of a split.

Mayawati asked her legislators to come prepared to the House on September 2 with sufficient material to nail the newly-formed government. ‘‘The release of criminals proves that the new government wanted electoral benefits, not the benefit of the comon man,’’ sources claimed her as saying. The BSP leader also criticised her former partner the BJP for supporting Yadav in forming the government. ‘‘They would do anything to fool the electorate,’’ she said while referring to the BJP’s decision to sit in the Opposition benches in the House.