SP sacks 11 district chiefs as BJP zila panchayat chief candidates win unopposed

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party on Saturday sacked presidents of party units in 11 districts, mostly the ones where the BJP candidate has been elected unopposed as zila panchayat chairman. Nomination for the polls ended on Friday evening. The move is being seen as an attempt to hand out a stern message to the party leaders and cadre that the party means business.
The SP state president Naresh Uttam Patel on Saturday evening announced that district presidents of the party units in Gorakhpur, Moradabad, Jhansi, Agra, Gautam Budh Nagar, Mau, Balrampur, Shravasti, Bhadohi, Gonda and Lalitpur have been removed from their post on the directions of the national president Akhilesh Yadav.
No reason was however cited in the letter issued by the party announcing the removal of the district presidents with immediate effect. Interestingly, in most of these districts, BJP candidates for the Zila Panchayat chairman post are all set to be declared winners unopposed as no other candidate filed nomination papers. The deadline for filing nominations ended on Saturday evening.
The party also sacked one Sachin Yadav from the party for six years for indulging in anti-party activities in Farrukhabad and issued a stern warning to all party cadres that any move which happens to be against the interest of the party will be dealt with in a similar manner.
In the political circles the move is being seen as an attempt of the party leadership to send across a warning to the cadres and office bearers to adopt result oriented strategies with regards to party's aim of making its presence felt in the democratic process of the state.
Party sources said there were reports that in some of the districts where action had been initiated, SP candidates were unable to file their nominations owing to issues list missing proposers and incomplete documentation despite the district presidents having assured the party state chief that everything was in place.
"However these are merely allegations which are being verified and appropriate action would be initiated against anyone found guilty," said a senior SP leader.