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Rajasthan polls: BJP suspends workers as protests over ticket denial continue
The fresh protests were triggered after the BJP denied tickets to eight lawmakers as it declared its second list of 83 candidates
The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suspended six workers for vandalising the party office in Rajsamand even as protests over the denial of tickets for the Rajasthan assembly elections continued on Monday.
The fresh protests were triggered after the BJP denied tickets to eight lawmakers as it declared its second list of 83 candidates. The party has attempted damage control by reaching out to workers and office bearers but continued to face protests.
Chandrabhan Singh Aakya, a lawmaker from Chittorgarh who was among those denied a ticket, said he was yet to decide on contesting as an independent. “I will wait until tomorrow. If the party reconsiders its decision to drop me then well and good or else I will do as my supporters decide.” Aakya said the party did not consult him and that he was assured that he would get a ticket.
Narpat Singh Rajvi, who contested from Jaipur’s Vidyadhar Nagar in 2018, has been fielded from Chittorgarh. Rajsamand Member of Parliament Diya Kumari has been fielded from Vidyadhar Nagar.
Aakya’s supporters have been protesting since Saturday. They burnt Rajvi’s effigies calling him an “outsider” and tore posters. Aakya blamed state BJP president CP Joshi for denying him the ticket because of an old rivalry. “We were in student politics. I was in [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliated] ABVP [Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad]. Joshi was in [Congress’s student wing] NSUI [National Students’ Union of India]. We had a rivalry since then.”
In Rajsamand, supporters of dissidents allegedly vandalised the local BJP office and set fire to campaign-related material to protest against the ticket given to lawmaker Deepti Maheshwari, prompting the suspensions.
In Jaipur, supporters of Ashok Lahoty, the lawmaker from Sanganer, protested at the BJP office, holding placards, They shouted slogans against BJP state general secretary Bhajan Lal, who has been given the ticket. The protestors called Lal an outsider and demanded that his ticket be withdrawn.
Paras Singhvi, Udaipur’s deputy mayor, staged a protest after he did not get a ticket and blamed Assam governor Gulab Chand Kataria for it. The BJP has fielded Tarachand Jain, a close confidant of Kataria from Udaipur.
Singhvi said Jain is not a deserving candidate and has worked against the party. His supporters gathered outside his house on Saturday night and shouted slogans against Kataria.
The BJP issued its first list of candidates on October 9 and triggered protests.
Analyst Manish Godha said the protests will eventually die down. “The BJP is a cadre-based party where the workers will eventually fall in line and work for the party.”
