Many BJP leaders who have been denied the ticket for the Rajasthan Assembly elections may quit the party, reports suggest. The BJP has released its first list of Candidates for the forthcoming assembly elections in Rajasthan on Sunday. As many as 25 fresh faces have been introduced in the list while 85 sitting MLAs have been retained.
According to a report by IANS, the leaders who are upset with the party’s decision have been reaching the BJP headquarters in large numbers to express their distress.
Among the leaders who have resigned from the party are State water resource Minister and a five-time MLA Surendra Goyal, who has sent his resignation letter to Rajasthan party President Madanlal Saini without citing any reason. He has said he will contest the upcoming election as an Independent from Jaitaran seat.
Another leader to follow suit is Habibur Rehman, an MLA from Nagaur who is likely to join the Congress. Kuldeep Dhankhar, a former General Secretary of the BJP, also quit after he was denied the ticket.
Some other names that were missing from the list are that of Health Minister Kali Charan Saraf, Transport Minister Yunus Khan and Industries Minister. Rumors are doing the rounds that they may also quit the party.
Meanwhile, Avinash Rai Khanna, the BJP’s election in charge of Rajasthan, said that the party was doing all it can to address this issue. He said, “We are in the process of talking to the dissidents. Our leaders are trying to meet them and talk to them. We won’t allow any of them to leave the party”.
As per the first list of candidates, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will contest from Jhalrapatan assembly constituency from where she has been contesting since 2003.
The speaker in the outgoing Rajasthan assembly, Kailash Meghwal has been shifted from Bhilwara district’s Shahpura constituency to Jhunjhun’s Pilani constituency.
The list contains names of 12 female candidates, 32 young candidates, 17 candidates from Schedule Caste category and 19 from Schedule Tribe category.
Other ministers who got the tickets are Gulab Chand Kataria, Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Vasudev Devnani, Anita Bhadel, Kiran Maheshwari, Arun Chaturvedi, Ram Pratap, Krishnendra Kaur Deepa, and Rajendra Rathore.
The assembly polls in the state will take place on December 7 in a single phase for all 200 seats. The counting of votes will take place on December 11.