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Bypoll losses: Two BJP MLAs blame ‘corruption, inefficient ministers’

Kairana, Noorpur bypolls in UP: Two party MLAs on Friday said the state government needs to take action against “rampant corruption” and “inefficient ministers” to ensure better party performance in future elections.

A day after the BJP’s defeat in Kairana and Noorpur bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, two party MLAs on Friday said the state government needs to take action against “rampant corruption” and “inefficient ministers” to ensure better party performance in future elections.

BJP MLA from Gopamau in Hardoi, Shyam Prakash, blamed the bypoll defeats on the failures of his government. In a poem on Facebook, he said: “Pehle Gorakhpur, Phulpur aur ab Kairana, Noorpur mein BJP ki haar ka humein dukha hai (We are saddened by the loss of the party first in Gorakhpur, then Phulpur and now in Kairana and Noorpur).”Calling the verses “Vartaman Haqiqat” (present reality), he wrote, “Modi naam se paa gaye raaj, Kar na sake Janta man Kaaj. Sangh, Sangathan haath Lagaam, Mukhyamantri bhi asahaye (Got power in the name of Modi but could not deliver as per the will of the public. The control is in the hands of RSS and organisation, while chief minister is helpless).”

BJP state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, “If public representatives have some issues, the state party president as well as CM are available to resolve them.” (In picture: Yogi Adityanath/Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Claiming that both legislators and the public are facing hardship, he alleged that “Adhikari, Adhyaksha bhrashta (officers and heads are corrupt).” He also urged the public to exercise their rights — “Aage hai adhikar tumhara.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, Prakash said his feelings were shared by most state BJP MLAs. “It is a reality, there is a message in public that officers do not listen to public representatives. The public are angry with rampant corruption. We have the information and most of us discuss that the Chief Minister does not have a free hand. If such a scenario remains, everyone’s future will be dark,” he said.

Asked if he or his colleagues had expressed this on the party forum, Prakash said, “We have expressed our concerns before the CM and Deputy CMs many times, but there are only assurances and nothing else. We feel that if the party wants to do well in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the senior leadership will have to act fast.”

He said neither farmers nor traders nor the public were happy with the government as they had to face corruption at every level.

Meanwhile, Surendra Singh, BJP MLA from Beria constituency in Ballia district, said that in order ensure the BJP’s victory in the next election, his party would have to replace “inefficient” ministers.

He told The Indian Express: “After the loss, the first thing the party should do is replace ministers who shy away from work with efficient and non-corrupt leaders who are ready to take responsibility. Bureaucracy does not belong to anyone and only one who is not corrupt can control it.”

“Corruption is open, and things will not change unless there is punitive action.”

BJP state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, “If public representatives have some issues, the state party president as well as CM are available to resolve them.” He added, “As far as victory and loss is concerned, everyone knows how politics of fatwa was done by others in this election.”