Another BJP MLA quits the party as he was denied ticket in the upcoming state assembly elections. State water resources minister Surendra Goyal quit the BJP on Monday without citing any reason in his resignation letter.
According to media reports, Goyal, submitted his resignation in a two-line letter to state party Chief Madan Lal Saini after he was not named in the list of 131 candidates announced by the party on Sunday night.
Goyal had been MLA from Jaitaran for five terms. He is replaced by Avinash Gehlot. Goyal is now likely to contest the polls as an independent.
In the first list of candidates, BJP has retained 85 sitting MLAs. The BJP currently has two sitting Muslim MLAs Habibur Rahman (Nagaur) and Transport Minister Yoonus Khan (Deedwana). The party has not named Rahman and the candidate for the Deedwana seat has not been announced yet.
Some of the candidates like Shambhu Singh Khetasar (Sardarpura), Sumit Godara (Lunkaransar), Satish Poonia (Amber), Jaswant Gurjar (Bari), Babu Lal Kharadi (Jhadol) and Khemraj Garasia (Bagidora) had lost the 2013 assembly elections. The BJP had won 163 of the 200 assembly seats in the last Assembly polls.
The assembly polls in the state will take place on December 7 in a single phase for all 200 seats, which are at stake in the state. The counting of votes will take place on December 11.