After a backlash from contestants over “lack of support” from the party during the Assembly polls in Delhi, the Bahujan Samaj Party on Saturday dismissed ‘non-performing’ members including the ‘prabhari’ (in-charge) of the party’s Delhi unit.

The party has now begun taking stock of gains and losses in Delhi and is expected to declare candidates for the Lok Sabha polls within a few weeks, sources said. In a closed-door meeting at Ambedkar Bhavan on Rani Jhansi Marg, senior party leader Nasimuddin Siddiqui appointed Dhani Ram and C P Singh of the Uttar Pradesh cadre joint ‘prabharis’ of the Delhi unit, in place of Gaya Chand Dinker.

Siddiqui will be looking after preparation for the polls in Delhi and will be visiting the Capital often. While his work is said to be that of a “peace-maker”, as rifts between contestants and the leadership has widened, leaders from the party also said his selection is aimed at garnering the Muslim vote in the Capital. “Our analysis has shown that we could have won 13 Assembly seats, had the Capital’s Muslim vote gone in our favour,” a senior leader said. Both C P Singh and Dharam Singh are Dalit leaders and sources say they have been appointed to focus on garnering Dalit votes.

The party has decided to focus on the South Delhi, East Delhi and Northeast Delhi constituencies for the Lok Sabha elections during meeting held last week. Losing contestants were asked to prepare reports on the causes of loss and they were submitted and discussed today. While many contestants stayed away from the meeting, allegedly in protest, leaders termed it a success.

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