Lucknow: Upping the ante, dissident Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators in Uttar Pradesh, sulking over being ignored in recent ministry expansion, on October 18 demanded en masse resignation of all party ministers from Mayawati-led coalition government.

About 25 legislators, who met here on the eve of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit on October 19, asked all BJP ministers to quit and the party leadership to support Mayawati ministry from outside, Member of Legislature Council (MLC) and senior leader Ramashish Rai told reporters.

"Social and regional imbalance and neglect of experienced and deserving persons in the ministry expansion will prove to be detrimental to BJP's image," he said.

The meeting of the dissidents who have launched the campaign, 'BJP bachao abhiyan', was attended by 15 Members of Legislature Assembly (MLAs) and 10 MLCs, Rai said.

He said that the meeting decided that the MLAs would meet the Prime Minister during his visit here to apprise him of the state leaders' "high handed attitude and prejudice" against some leaders who have been ignored in the ministry expansion on October 11.

"Our concern is not the ministerial berth, but the erosion in the party's base which has been aggravated due to the behaviour of irresponsible state party leadership," he said.

Rai was accompanied by Ajit Singh and Bharat Tripathi (both MLCs).

PTI