Lucknow, Nov 18 (IANS) Three prominent leaders of her party came in Chief Minister Mayawati's firing line Wednesday days after the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) lost the Lucknow West assembly seat in the by-elections in Uttar Pradesh.

While the ruling BSP bagged nine of the 11 assembly seats for which the polls were held Nov 7, what angered Mayawati was the victory of the Congress in Lucknow, the state capital city.

And what followed promptly was the sacking of two well-known trader leaders Banwari Lal Kanchal and Sandeep Bansal, who were accused of indulging in 'anti-party activities'.

Mayawati also showed the door to once dreaded mafia don-turned politician Aruna Shankar Shukla 'Anna', who fought the April-May Lok Sabha elections from the prestigious Unnao Lok Sabha constituency on the BSP ticket. He, however, lost the election.

Kanchal had switched loyalties about a year ago from the Samajwadi Party (SP), and Bansal had earlier crossed sides from the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).

'Both these leaders were entrusted with the responsibility of mobilising support of traders. But instead of working towards that goal, they were busy fighting amongst themselves, with the result that they failed to fulfil the task assigned to them,' BSP state chief Swami Prasad Maurya told reporters here.

'This conclusion was drawn during the course of a detailed review of the by-elections.'

Maurya said Anna had failed to curb his indulgence in criminal activities.

'Anna was inducted into the BSP and also given the party ticket to contest the Unnao Lok Sabha seat on the condition that he would give up his criminal activities - as a part of the BSP's mission to give everyone a chance to mend their ways,' Maurya said.

'However, despite the party's repeated warnings to him, Anna continued to indulge in criminal activities. Therefore, he has no business to continue in the party.'