Union Minister backs former Haryana BJP chief, party denies him ticket

Miffed over the delay in announcement of his candidature, Ram Bilas Sharma had gone ahead and filed his nomination from Mahendragarh without waiting for the party to name its official candidate

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday night announced candidates for the three remaining Assembly seats in Haryana, denying a ticket to its former State chief Ram Bilas Sharma, who had filed his nomination from Mahendragarh earlier in the day.

Miffed over the delay in announcement of his candidature, Mr. Sharma had gone ahead without waiting for the party to name its official candidate. He won instant support from Union Minister and Gurgaon Lok Sabha member Rao Inderjit Singh, who on Tuesday had hit out at the State BJP leadership and challenged the continuance of Nayab Singh Saini as Chief Minister in the event of a poll win after projecting himself as a potential CM face a day earlier. The party had “rubbed salt on Sharma’s wounds” by holding his nomination till the eleventh hour, he said.

With this, the BJP has named candidates for all the 90 Assembly seats for the October 5 election.

Kanda snubbed

Putting to rest speculations of a last-minute tie-up with former Minister Gopal Kanda, the party nominated Rohtash Jangra from Sirsa. Mr. Saini had last month hinted at a possible coalition with Mr. Kanda’s Haryana Lokhit Party.

In Faridabad NIT, the party fielded local leader Satish Fagna, dashing the hopes of Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjar’s son Devendra Pal Chaudhary, who was among the contenders for the party ticket.

In a major snub to Mr. Sharma, the party fielded district president Kanwar Singh Yadav from the Mahendragarh seat. Besides Mr. Sharma, another local BJP leader, Kailash Chand, too had filed his nomination papers from the constituency in anticipation of the party ticket.

Mr. Sharma, a former Haryana Minister, prominent Brahmin leader, and State party president when the BJP formed its first full majority government in 2014, had earlier on Wednesday told mediapersons that he filed his nomination as a BJP candidate and was hopeful of getting the party symbol before the end of the nomination process on Thursday. In 2019, he had lost in Mahendragarh to the Congress’s Rao Dan Singh.

Expressing solidarity with him, Mr. Singh said the party, if not willing to field him, should have made it clear earlier and appointed him as Governor instead of making him wait for the ticket till the last minute. “He is the tallest BJP leader in Haryana,” said the Union Minister, a prominent Ahir leader in south Haryana.

Published - September 12, 2024 12:57 am IST