Former BSP leader accuses Mayawati of seeking Rs 5 crore for Lok Sabha ticket

Lucknow: Former Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Mukul Upadhyaya on Friday alleged that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati had sought money to give him the Lok Sabha ticket from Aligarh, a charge refuted by the BSP. Hours after he was expelled from the party, he said the four-time chief minister had sought Rs 5 crore to give him the party ticket. The former BSP leader is the younger brother of senior party leader and former power minister Ramveer Upadhyaya. The former MLC has also alleged that his brother plotted against him for political ambition. He also threatened to "expose" his brother and other BSP bigwigs. He also claimed that Ramveer Upadhyaya wanted to get the Aligarh Lok Sabha ticket of the party for his wife Seema and therefore conspired against him. The rebel leader also alleged that party coordinators had asked him a few days back to deposit Rs 5 crore for the party fund in lieu of the Aligarh parliamentary constituency ticket. The big infighting in the Upadhya clan has jolted people in western Uttar Pradesh. Four brothers of Upadhyaya are in active politics while the other two work for the state government. The BSP has trashed the allegations and said that the party had expelled him because he was trying to defect to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Chief zonal coordinator of the BSP for Agra-Aligarh division Sunil Chittor clarified to reporters that Upadhyaya was "rattled" by his expulsion and was making wild and baseless allegations.