Ghaziabad: Thrown out of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for his alleged criminal background four days after being inducted into it, controversial Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav today (Feb 26, 2004) said if mere registration of cases made one a criminal then the same yardstick should be applied to those saffron party leaders charged by police in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

"If mere registration of cases made one a criminal, then all those BJP leaders charged by the police in the Babri Masjid demolition case should also be treated as criminals. But they are made Ministers," he said.

Claiming that he was never convicted by any court, Yadav alleged that "only police has committed excesses on me by lodging fake cases".

He said he was elected a Rajya Sabha member "not at the mercy of any leader or party. It is because I enjoy public support".

Yadav said he would contest the coming Lok Sabha polls to "prove my worth".

Expressing similar sentiments, Madan Bhaiya, an MLA in UP with alleged criminal background, who was also denied membership by the Lok Dal, said public had "full faith" in him and he would contest the elections as an independent. "It was the Lok Dal which invited me to join that party. I never approached them for membership."