Lucknow, July 09: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued showcause notice to 26 leaders asking them to explain their indisciplined actions during the Lok Sabha elections.
According to sources, more notices may be issued in the next few days. But already allegations of bias in the exercise have been voiced.
The notices have been issued by party general secretary Swatantra Dev Singh. Interestingly, complaints were made against Singh by party’s Jalaun candidate, Bhanu Pratap Verma, although not in writing, said a party source.
After the elections, the party leaders had held meetings with the workers and the candidates to identify the cause behind the poll debacle. Indiscipline and internal bickering were the two major reasons cited in the meeting.
While many candidates have given written complaints, others made their point orally.
Following the prolonged exercise, the party handed over the notice to those people against whom some substance was found in the complaints.
While their names have not been disclosed, a party source said the list includes Satyadev Pachauri, who has been given a notice following complaint from Kanpur candidate Satish Mahana, Rajkumar Tyagi who was the head of the discipline committee, Subhash Tripathi, vice-president Surya Pratap Shahi.
The others include Shyam Singh, Arun Kumar Mehrotra, Lal Krishna Gandhi, Hanumant Singh and Gopal Awasthi.
No notice has been issued to Swtantra Dev Singh, in spite of Verma’s complaint. Similarly, no notice has been issued to another general secretary Rajesh Agarwal against whom Bareilly candidate Santosh Gangwar had complained. Like Verma, Gangwar, too, had complained orally.
State party president Ramapati Ram Tripathi said action was being taken against written complaints only.
“We have not only asked for written explanations, but are also conducting an investigation. If someone is found guilty of indiscipline, we do not want them to be in the party anymore.”
–Agencies