In Uttar Pradesh, all major Opposition political parties have alleged that the Mayawati Government has lost the moral right to continue in power following the conviction of BSP MLA Shekhar Tiwari for killing a senior PWD engineer. Shekhar Tiwari and his nine associates, including three policemen, have been awarded life term for the gruesome murder of public works department engineer Manoj Kumar Gupta in Aurriya town in 2008. A special trial court in Lucknow has also awarded two-and-a-half year’s imprisonment to Vibha Tiwari wife of the MLA for hiding and destroying evidence. The main Opposition Samajwadi Party has said that the bereaved family had got justice through the verdict. BJP's state unit president Surya Pratap Shahi said that the judgment had proved the manner in which power has been misused by leaders of the ruling party. Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tewari has said the allegations made by the party both inside and outside the Vidhan Sabha about corruption and extortion by the ruling BSP members had been proved correct. The family members of the slain engineer and the UP Engineers Association also welcomed the verdict. The Association said it would continue to assist the family in case it approached a higher court for a more stringent sentence.