Senior UP BJP leader expelled for dubbing party's top leadership as 'Gujarati thugs'
Lucknow, Mar 25: The BJP Monday expelled one of its senior Lucknow-based leaders after he dubbed the party's top leadership as "Gujarati thugs" and asked if the BJP has chosen a 'pradhan mantri' (prime minister) or a prachar mantri (advertisement minister).
While attacking the BJP's top leadership in a series of tweets, the party's former spokesperson I P Singh also hailed Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's candidature from Azamgarh and offered him his residence for use as his poll campaign office.
"I P Singh has been expelled from the party for six years on directions of the BJP state president," said a party release here.
The expulsion followed after Singh attacked the BJP leadership in a series of tweets from his official Twitter account having a prefix "usuldaar" (principled) to his name.
"I belong to a principled 'kshatriya' family. Two Gujarati thugs have been befooling Hindi-speaking people for the last five years after capturing the country's Hindi heartland, while we are silent," he said in one of his tweets Friday.
"Our UP is six times bigger than Gujarat with an economy of Rs five lakh crore against Gujarat's Rs one lakh 15 thousand crore," said Singh, adding, in such a situation what would they eat and what development would they cause.
In another tweet, he said, "Have we elected a 'pradhan mantri' or 'prachar mantri'? Does the country's prime minister look good selling t-shirt and tea cup?"
"The BJP has been a party which made its place in the people's hearts through its ideology. It's impossible to 'produce' workers with missed calls and T-shirts," he added.
An Azamgarh native, Singh had on Sunday also welcomed Akhilesh Yadav's candidature from there and offered his house to be used as his election office.
"The people of eastern UP are overjoyed and the youths here are excited after the announcement of Akhilesh Yadav's candidature from Poorvanchal. It heralds an end of the politics of caste and religion," said Singh.
Reacting to his expulsion, Singh tweeted further, "I have come to know from the media friends that I have been expelled from the party for six years."
"I had given my three decades to the party. Even speaking truth is a crime in the party which has lost its internal democracy," he added.
"Forgive me Narendra Modi ji! I could not have work as your chowkidar (watchman) with a strap on my eyes," he added.
Singh had last year reportedly written to BJP president Amit Shah to replace Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with him as the BJP candidate from Lok Sabha in the 2019 general elections.
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3 Indians injured after fire breaks out in UAE's Fujairah due to drone attack
Dubai (PTI): Three Indian nationals were injured on Monday after a fire broke out on the Fujairah Petroleum Industries Zone (FOIZ) in the UAE following a drone strike originating from Iran, according to local media reports.
The relevant authorities in the eastern emirate of Fujairah confirmed that a fire has broken out in the FOIZ, resulting from a drone attack coming from Iran, the state-run WAM news agency reported.
Fujairah Civil Defence teams immediately responded to the incident and are continuing efforts to bring the fire under control, it added.
Three Indian nationals sustained moderate injuries after the fire broke out on the FOIZ, the Khaleej Times reported, quoting authorities in Fujairah.
The injured were taken to the hospital for treatment, it added.
In a post on X, the UAE's Ministry of Defence said that Iran launched four missiles toward various areas across the country. "Three were successfully engaged over the country's territorial waters, while one fell into the sea," it said.
The ministry urged the public to comply with all public safety procedures when warning messages are issued to the public.
Authorities have urged the public not to circulate rumours and to rely only on official sources for information, Gulf News reported.
