Tickets yet to be announced, but voices of dissent surface in saffron party

Deepender Deswal

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Hisar, September 1

The local leaders of the BJP in Hisar and Barwala Assembly constituencies in Hisar district and Ratia Assembly segment in Fatehabad district have served the warning to the BJP leadership even as the party is yet to allocate the tickets for the Assembly elections.

Tarun Jain, vice-president of the BJP, Hisar district, said local MLA Dr Kamal Gupta, who is also the Health Minister, had failed on all fronts, adding that he would take a drastic step if the party opts to field Dr Gupta for the third consecutive term from Hisar Assembly segment.

In a press statement issued here, he said Dr Gupta had been busy in serving his vested interests instead of redressing the grievances of public during his tenure. “From sewerage system to potable water supply and stray cattle menace, there is no end to the problems in the town. The residents faced harassment by the municipal corporation for getting their property IDs corrected. A number of roads are in a dilapidated condition and several spots are infested with heaps of garbage,” he stated.

Hisar MLA failed on all fronts

Local MLA Dr Kamal Gupta, who is also the Health Minister, has failed on all fronts. I will be forced to take a drastic step if the party opts to field Dr Gupta for the third consecutive term from Hisar Assembly segment. — Tarun Jain, BJP Vice-president, Hisar

Referring to the protest and dharna by residents for delay in construction of Surya Nagar Railway over bridge and inundation of the civil hospital and bus stand, Jain said the local MLA failed to take note of the problems of the residents.

Reacting to his statement, BJP district president Ashok Saini said, being district vice-president, Jain has indulged in indiscipline and added that he should not have issued such a statement. “I have taken up the matter with the state party leadership and any action will be taken as per the instructions of the party leadership,” Saini said while appreciating the work of Dr Gupta as the MLA from Hisar.

As Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa is reportedly keen to shift his political base from his home segment Nalwa to neighbouring Barwala Assembly segment in Hisar, the local unit of the BJP has expressed its resentment and submitted a written representation to the state president Mohan lal Badoli that they would not be able to support any outsider candidate. “We have demanded that a local party worker should be nominated from the Barwala Assembly segment. We will work hard to ensure victory for the party candidate. But if the party gives a ticket to an outsider, we will not extend our support,” stated a collective statement. One of the signatories, Darshan Giri, who is district secretary of the party and also zila parishad member from the Barwala region, said he would join the fray as an Independent in case the party gives the ticket to Gangwa.

The local leaders in Ratia Assembly segment in Fatehabad district had also written a letter to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and other leaders, urging them to nominate a local worker from the Ratia segment. Amid speculations that former Sirsa MP Sunita Duggal was trying to get nomination from the Ratia segment, BJP sitting MLA Laxman Napa, district president Baldev Groha and former chairperson Mukhtiar Bazigar had wrote a letter which contained the signatures of several local party office-bearers, demanding that local party workers should be given the ticket from Ratia. “We will collectively ensure the victory of the party candidate who belongs to the Ratia Assembly segment,” they said in the letter.