C P Thakur resigns as Bihar BJP chief

In a major setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just days before the Assembly elections in Bihar, the party’s state unit president C P Thakur has resigned after the party denied ticket to his son.

Caught unawares of the sudden development in the state, senior BJP leaders have asked party president Nitin Gadkari to step in and ensure that no controversy breaks out because it might harm the BJP’s electoral prospects.

The party leadership is also pushing Gadkari to take the initiative because the BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) had authorised him to decide on the names of the candidates in 15 seats who would be given tickets to fight elections in the state. The first phase of elections starts on October 21.

C P Thakur, also a former Union health minister, was apparently upset with the party leadership for allotting the Digha seat to ally Janata Dal (United). He had planned to launch his son Vivek from the seat and was pushing the central leadership to nominate him.

Unable to get a seat for his son, Thakur sent his resignation to Gadkari on Friday morning.

“C P Thakur is a very old member of the party and is well known social worker in Bihar. The party president Nitin Gadkari is talking to him. If he has been hurt or has any complaints with the party, we will solve it. He is a very respected member of the party,” said senior BJP leader and a member of the CEC Murli Manohar Joshi.

According to its tie-up with the JD(U) in the state, the BJP will field its candidates for 103 seats. After finalising names of the candidates for 87 seats, the CEC had asked Gadkari to nominate the people who would be given election tickets by BJP for the remaining 15 seats.

Sources in the BJP said that Thakur was also upset with the party’s central leadership because he was not taken into confidence while deciding the names of the candidates who were given tickets by the CEC.