Mayawati on Naseemuddin Siddiqui: 'He is taping blackmailer; along with the EVMs, he is also responsible for BSP's defeat'

A day after the BSP expelled its Muslim face, Naseemudin Siddiqui, and his son from the party for carrying out “anti-party” activities, the party Supremo on Thursday addressed media. Apart from the EVM tampering, she held Naseemuddin Siddiqui responsible for BSP's defeat in assembly polls.

Here are the highlights:

#If he can record Party Pres' call & tamper it as per convinience then how can he be expected to fulfil responsibilities

#Naseemuddin Siddiqui used to "blackmail" party workers for money.

#Along with the EVMs, Naseemuddin Siddiqui also responsible for the defeat of the BSP party

#Naseemuddin Siddiqui is "taping blackmailer"

#I gave Naseemuddin Siddiqui responsibility for western UP in elections but people came and told me that he is a very big blackmailer

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

“Siddiqui and his son Afzal have been expelled from the party. He has a partnership in a number of slaughter houses and ‘benami’ properties in his name. He also took money during assembly polls due to which party had to suffer defeat”, BSP General Secretary and Rajya Sabha member Satish Chandra Mishra had said on Wednesday.

He also alleged that Nasimuddin used to “accept money” from people in return for work and added that the “BSP will not tolerate such indiscipline”.

ALSO READ | BSP expels Naseemuddin Siddiqui, son for anti-party activities

BSP supremo Mayawati had carried out a major organisational rejig after the assembly polls, and launched her brother Anand Kumar in active politics making him the party’s vice-president.With a view to revamp her party, Mayawati had also dissolved the existing team of zonal, divisional and district coordinators and brotherhood committees set up to woo different castes and communities like Brahmins, Thakur and Muslims.

After the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in which BSP failed to open its account, the BSP again suffered a humiliating defeat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections where the party had managed to secure only 19 seats out of the total 403 seats.

Mayawati had blamed EVMs for her party’s poor performance.

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On the AAP’s demonstration on EVMs in Delhi Assembly yesterday, Mishra said, “BSP was the first to raise the issue of misuse of EVMs”.

(With inputs from agencies)