Rajasthan polls: BJP MLA quits after being denied ticket

Miffed over being denied a ticket by the BJP for the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly elections, Ramgarh MLA Gyan Deo Ahuja quit the party Sunday and announced he will contest the polls as an independent candidate.

Since last Sunday, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of candidates for the December 7 polls, several party MLAs, including a state minister, have resigned.

The party has so far declared 170 out of total 200 candidates in three lists.

"My name was dropped by the party without taking me into confidence. I was not even told about the reason why my name was dropped. After pressure from my supporters and family members, I resigned from the party. I will now contest the elections from Sanganer seat," Ahuja said.

"I had demanded a ticket from Sanganer after the other candidate was given the ticket from Ramgarh but the party did not fulfil my demand. Therefore, I decided to contest as an independent candidate," he said.

Ahuja said he had sent his resignation to the state BJP president Madan Lal Saini.

He said he will file his nomination papers on Monday and issues of 'gau raksha' (cow protection) and construction of a Ram temple on Ram Janmabhoomi will be on his agenda.

Former BJP MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari had won from the Sanganer seat in Jaipur in the 2013 elections. He quit the BJP in June this year over his differences with chief minister Vasundhara Raje and floated his own party.