Lehar Singh suspended for criticising Advani

The BJP on Friday suspended MLC Lehar Singh Siroya from the party for criticising the former deputy prime minister L K Advani for his comments on the party’s performance in State Assembly elections.

The BJP State president Pralhad Joshi suspended Siroya from the party after a section of the media carried the details of the letter he had written to Advani on May 13. Siroya, who is a known close associate of the KJP chief B S Yeddyurappa, has remained with the BJP even after his leader quit the party. Siroya, a businessman and a nominated MLC, has three more years to complete his tenure. He is also considered close to the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Siroya, when contacted by Deccan Herald, said that he would continue to support the BJP in the Legislative Council as well as outside. “I have no problems with the party. I like its ideology. The party might have suspended me. But, I have no issues with the party as such. I have only reacted to an individual’s expression in his blog,” he said.

Siroya, in his four-page letter to Advani, has said, “In your blog you have said that you would have been surprised if the party had won. You have belittled our hard work. After all, losses and victories for a political party in an election are two sides of the same coin. We win some and lose some. But, for an elder, harping only on our mistakes, instead of leading us to introspection, is not a gracious act. It leads to confusion and cynicism among the rank and file of the party. This has hurt us badly.”

Partisan approach

Referring to Advani’s comments that the party should have got rid of Yeddyurappa the very instant he was found indulging in corruption, Siroya said that he (Advani) was partisan in his approach and shielding his own role in the decline of the party in the state.  
The MLC, while posing 13 questions to the BJP national leader, said Advani, who talks not so much about corruption, should have asked Yeddyurappa as to where did the money come from for funding elections that brought the party to power in 2008; many bypolls that were a result of Operation Kamala that ensured a majority for the government, as well as money for your earlier rallies and yatras? Why were you silent when all these were happening?”