GHAZIABAD: A former national vice-president of the Bahujan Samaj Party , who had been expelled for alleged anti-party activities, was booked on Sunday for misusing party chief Mayawati’s name to collect funds and planning to take out rallies across the state to garner support for an organisation he has floated.An FIR was registered at Vijay Nagar police station against expelled leader Jai Prakash Singh under Section 420 (cheating) of the IPC. The FIR was registered on a complaint by BSP district president Vinod Pradhan.Pradhan said Singh had been expelled in July this year after he called Congress president Rahul Gandhi “unfit” for becoming India’s Prime Minister. He had also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi “Gabbar Singh”.In the police complaint, Pradhan said Singh had formed an organisation, “Bahujan Youth for Mission 2019 — Next PM Bahan ji” and was planning to hold a “sankalp yatra” across the state to garner support. He said Singh had no right to use the BSP chief’s pictures in official communications and confuse party workers, especially when he had been expelled.“Singh has nothing to do with the party, but has been using its influence to fulfil his motives,” Pradhan further wrote in the complaint. According to a pamphlet issued by Singh, the sankalp yatra was to be held between October 28 and November 10.The first such rally was to be taken out from Delhi to Meerut on October 28. Sources said Singh was holding a news conference in Delhi when he received information about the FIR. He left the news conference mid-way and even cancelled the proposed rally.“Singh has been causing damage to the party’s image for a long time. The action was taken against him after senior leaders were alerted about his activities and his plan to hold rallies in the party’s name,” Pradhan said.Singh refuted the allegations in a series of Facebook posts. He said Mayawati was his “inspiration” and the FIR would not stop him from garnering support for her as the next PM. “It’s not a child’s play to accomplish the mission. I will continue to work in this direction,” he said.

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