Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati has replaced Munkad Ali with Bhim Rajbhar as the party’s state unit president after reviewing the results of the bypolls to seven Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.
The BSP president announced the decision on Twitter on Sunday while emphasising on Bhim’s Rajbhar caste.
“Bhim Rajbhar, who belongs to UP’s most backward class (OBC) of Rajbhar community, is a resident of Mau district (Azamgarh division). Associated since long with the party and the movement as a dedicated and disciplined soldier, he has been appointed as new president of the BSP Uttar Pradesh unit. Congratulations and best wishes to him,” Mayawati tweeted in Hindi.
Party sources said Ali has got a less important assignment as the BSP coordinator of Uttarakhand.
The BSP had contested all seven seats where bypolls were held and lost all. The BJP won six seats and the Samajwadi Party retained one. The BSP was runner-up in one seat and third on four seats. It stood fourth on two seats.
The BSP got 23.62 per cent votes in the 2017 Assembly elections.
In the bypolls, it got 18.97 per cent of the polled votes.
Mayawati had tried to woo the Muslims in the bypolls, held on November 3, by declaring that they would be given their due respect in the party. However, the bypoll results suggested that the Muslims sided with the SP.