Letter ‘written’ by Palamu BJP unit against party’s sitting MP goes viral

The letter, apparently written by the Palamu district BJP president Narendra Kumar Padney and signed by more than a dozen senior party officer-bearers, including vice-presidents and general secretaries, went viral on Monday. However, the district unit then claimed that the letter was fake.

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leaders in Palamu district have written to Jharkhand BJP chief Laxman Gilua, urging him to consider replacing the sitting Member of Parliament, VD Ram, to ensure a win from the Palamu parliamentary seat and saving the party organisation in the district.

Letter written by Palamu district BJP President Narendra Pandey against the sitting Palamu MP V D Ram in Palamu (HT)

Prior to writing this letter, the Palamu district unit office-bearers also held a meeting on Sunday to discuss the neglect of the party organisation by VD Ram. A former Jharkhand director general of police, Ram had won from this seat, reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, in the 2014 general elections.

The letter, apparently written by the Palamu district BJP president Narendra Kumar Padney and signed by more than a dozen senior party officer-bearers, including vice-presidents and general secretaries, went viral on Monday. However, the district unit then claimed that the letter was fake.

The letter appraised the BJP’s Jharkhand high command about how VD Ram had called the block (mandal) chiefs and other party workers to a hotel in the state capital on March 13 and asked them to sign applications in favour of his candidature without any knowledge or consultation with the party district unit.

“This act on his own volition by the sitting MP is totally against the party organisation and violation of the party constitution,” Pandey pointed out in the letter, alleging that the MP had also worked against the interests of the BJP in the past.

But, when asked by the local media about the veracity of the viral letter, Pandey said, “The letter doing the rounds on social media is fake. We have not written this.” Nonetheless, some party insiders confided on condition of anonymity that they had indeed shot off a letter to inform the party leadership about what was going on in Palamu.

EoM