Expelled BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui floats new outfit

Lucknow: Expelled BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui on Saturday floated a new outfit, the Rashtriya Bahujan Morcha, with the aim of providing a political alternative.

Siddiqui and his supporters held a meeting here today and decided to float a new morcha at a time when there was a "concerted move by vested interests to serve their personal motives", a release issued in the name of Rashtriya Bahujan Morcha said.

The decision was supported by all those who took part in the meeting and the outfit would work to provide a new political alternative in society, it said.

It would work towards providing political and social representation to all sections of society and establishing amity and brotherhood, the release said.

While Naseemuddin would be the convenor of the front, Brahma Swarup Sagar and O P Singh would be its co-convenors.

When contacted, Singh said more people from the BSP would be joining the outfit soon which would be extended in order to have a proper organisation. A public contact programme would also be launched for it in the future, he added.

Naseemuddin, the Muslim face of BSP, was expelled from the party on May 10 for carrying out "anti-party" activities, prompting him to hit back at party supremo Mayawati.

He came out with audio tapes of his conversation with the BSP chief to support his allegation that money was being demanded from him.

"Whatever charges have been levelled against me, applies to her (Mayawati) and I can prove those with evidence," he had said.

He claimed that he had over 150 audio clippings of Mayawati but desisted from issuing them, stressing that he would strike back only when the attack was initiated by the party.

He had also held Mayawati's "wrong policies" responsible for the BSP's poor performance in the 2009, 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 2012, 2017 UP Assembly polls.
He alleged that the BSP chief had levelled "false and misleading" allegations against Muslims and also made objectionable comments against them, especially in the 2017 elections.

He also alleged that Mayawati had used abusive language against upper castes, backwards and Muslims.

Naseemuddin, who hails from Banda, was removed as the party in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and was appointed as the MP unit in-charge after the assembly poll debacle.