Samajwadi Party Run On Whims And Fancies, Sacked Leader Tells Poll Body

Expelled Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Richa Singh has written to the Election Commission (EC), terming her recent explusion as 'undemocratic'.

Richa Singh, who twice contested the state Assembly polls as an SP candidate from Allahabad West constituency in Prayagraj district, was expelled on February 16.

While the party leadership did not officially cite any reason for expelling her, Singh had gone on record to voice her opposition to SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya's remark on Ramcharitmanas.

Maurya had sought deletion of certain excerpts in the book of verses based on the epic Ramayana, claiming they speak lowly of Dalits and other backward communities.

In her letter to the poll panel, Singh claimed that the party expelled her without any explanation, prior warning or even a showcause notice.

Following her expulsion, Singh claimed she was punished for speaking out against Maurya, an SP MLA, over his remarks on Ramcharitmanas.

"Natural justice demands that a show-cause notice must be issued before taking any action. Everyone should be given a fair opportunity to present their case. The Samajwadi Party never issued me a showcause notice," Singh said.

Such an action violates Article 30 of the party's constitution, she claimed further in her letter.

"Such an act on the behalf of the Samajwadi Party is derogatory, undemocratic and against the principles of natural justice and inner-party democracy. It is also against the norms, principles and basic spirit of the Indian Constitution," the expelled SP leader added in her letter to the poll panel.

Urging the Commission to take cognisance of the "sabotage of democratic process", she alleged that the party was being run on whims and fancies, and, in violation of the party constitution.

"The Samajwadi Party is being run on whims and fancies in violation of its own constitution. I have not even received any formal intimation about my expulsion. I would also be moving the Allahabad High Court soon against my expulsion, on these very grounds," she added.

Singh, who formally joined the Akhiles Yadav-led party in December 2016, was elected president of the Allahabad University Students' Union (AUSU) in October 2015 with support of the SP.

The first woman president of AUSU, Singh emerged as a leader to look out for when she staged a demonstration against the entry of the then Gorakhpur MLA, Yogi Adityanath, to the university campus during the oath ceremony of the newly elected students' union.

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