Miffed over denial of ticket, BJP leaders quits party, joins BSP

Mathura: Pained over the denial of ticket for the upcoming Assembly polls, senior BJP leader S K Sharma resigned from the primary membership of the party and joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Wednesday.

His close aide Niraj Rawat also followed suit. Sharma had contested the 2017 Assembly elections on the BJP ticket from Mant constituency.

“The BJP has deceived me twice and the party has lost its earlier character,” Sharma told reporters.

Sharma said though he wanted to contest from Mathura in 2017, the BJP leadership compelled him to enter the fray from Mant and assured him a berth in the legislative council in case he lost.

Though he was not offered a seat in the Upper House, Sharma said, he was instructed to work in Mant and the leadership assured him a ticket from the same constituency this time.

However, that was not to be the case. Sharma said he did not seek a ”single penny” from the BJP but mentioned that he had given enough to the party.

“Now, I have resigned from all positions in the BJP and joined the BSP. Not only this, I will also contest as the BSP candidate from Mathura,” Sharma, who is expected to file his nomination papers on Thursday, said.

Meanwhile, alliance partners Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) seem to have locked horns over the Mant Assembly seat. Despite the pact between the two parties, SP’s national spokesperson Sanjai Lathar claimed that the party has given him a go ahead to contest from the constituency while RLD candidate Yogesh Nauhar has already filed his nomination papers claiming that he is the official candidate of the alliance.