BJP rebel Verma is BSP candidate from Karnal
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday announced to field rebel Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Maratha Virender Verma, from the Karnal parliamentary segment.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday announced to field rebel Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Maratha Virender Verma, from the Karnal parliamentary segment.
Verma was a frontrunner among the BJP leaders for the Karnal seat and he was not happy after the seat was allotted to the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC). Verma quit the BJP on Saturday that he had joined in August 2012.
In 2009 general elections, Verma, a prominent leader of the Ror community, had unsuccessfully contested as a BSP candidate, but impressed everybody with his performance.
In the last general elections, Verma got 2,28,352 votes, which was the 28.16% of the total votes polled.
Congress' Arvind Sharma had won the last elections for the second consecutive term by securing 3,04,698 votes (35.57%). In 2009, the BJP's candidate and former union minister ID Swami did faired badly and stood third with a vote share of 22.86%.
Verma, 63, was an IAS officer and he quit his job to join the politics.
He had raised Ekta Shakti, a political front that he had merged with the BJP.
BSP state president Naresh Saran confirmed to HT that Verma's name had cleared by the party central leadership as the Karnal candidate.
After 2009 elections, Verma was expelled for anti-party activities by the BSP.
"It is a welcome homecoming for Verma and we together will ensure BSP's victory from Karnal," Saran said.
Meanwhile, Verma blamed the BJP leadership for overlooking the sentiments of the local BJP workers. He alleged that indiscipline and sheer neglect of party workers had made him to leave the BJP.
"BJP leadership at the district was unhappy over the party's decision of allotting Karnal seat to the HJC. Written representation was give to the central leadership but the BJP chose not to entertain it," he alleged.
However, the political observers said that though Verma could not be written off from the electoral arena but it would not be easy for the BSP nominee as was in the last elections.
"In the last elections, BSP chief and the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati had raised the issue of giving Haryana a non-Jat CM. Verma got full support from his own community and BSP's vote bank, but it is to be seen if Verma's last minute change in the political stance is accepted by his community," said the analyst.
Rors have a sizeable number of population in the parliamentary segments of Karnal and the adjoining Kurukshetra, but the community could never give an MP.