Lucknow: All seven suspended BSP MLAs have announced that they are not planning to join any other party.
"It is the prerogative of the party president to take whatever action she feels is right but we are not joining any other party," Aslam Raini, one of the rebels, told media persons here.
The legislators are said to have held a meeting here following the announcement of their suspension by party president Mayawati on Thursday morning. They had opposed the nomination of party's official candidate Ramji Gautam for the elections to the Rajya Sabha.
Mayawati announced the suspension of Chaudhary Aslam Ali, Hargovind Bhargava, Mohd Mustafa Siddiqui, Hakim Lal Bind, Mohd Aslam Raini, Sushma Patel, and Vandana Singh from the party with immediate effect.
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In a jolt to the BSP on Wednesday, six party MLAs reportedly met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and later threw hints that they may switch sides.
Four of the group of rebels also filed an affidavit, saying their signatures on the party candidate Gautam's nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls had been "forged".
The move turned out to be futile with the Returning Officer still accepting Gautam’s nomination as the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate for the November 9 biennial elections for the 10 Uttar Pradesh seats that are falling vacant.
Another rebel, Hakim Lal Bind, said, "She is our leader and her decision is acceptable and welcomed. We have been suspended and not expelled. We are MLAs for 15 more months. Whom we have to meet -- Mayawati, the BJP or the Samajwadi Party -- only time will tell."
Bind denied having met SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, and said that he and the others had not signed on the nomination papers and therefore, they opposed by giving an affidavit.
(With inputs from agencies)
