BJP leaders have lost mental balance, says sacked Chhattisgarh MP

Raipur, Jan 7 (IANS) Tara Chand Sahu, a Lok Sabha me4mber from Chhattisgarh who was sacked from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for anti-party activities, Wednesday said senior party leaders have lost their 'mental balance'.

'My expulsion shows that the party has lost its mental balance, my sacking is part of the conspiracy hatched by senior leaders,' Sahu told a press conference here.

The BJP Tuesday expelled Sahu, MP from Durg, and suspended Rajya Sabha member Shiv Pratap Singh for their alleged anti-party activities in the state's November assembly polls. The BJP retained power in the elections.

Sahu is a prominent leader from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) while Singh is a tribal leader.

Sahu was accused of raising a local-versus-outsider issue during the polls and campaigning against former assembly speaker Prem Prakash Pandey of the BJP who lost his Bhilai assembly seat.

Asked about his campaign against Pandey, he said: 'My campaign had silent approval of Chief Minister Raman Singh, BJP president Rajnath Singh and RSS leader Saudan Singh.'

BJP leaders have maintained silence over the sacking, though some privately say the decision would cost the party dear in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Of the total 20.08 million people in the state, OBCs make up around 50 percent and tribals 32 percent.

'Surely the OBCs and tribals decide the fate of parties in Chhattisgarh. But the BJP had no option but to punish both the MPs who openly defied party's constitution in the November assembly polls and worked against party candidates,' a BJP leader told IANS.

The BJP has nine of the state's 11 Lok Sabha seats.