BJP treated Jayant like criminal, says Yashwant Sinha

New Delhi, May 21

After former Union Minister of State for Finance and outgoing BJP MP from Hazaribagh Jayant Sinha received a show-cause notice from the BJP for skipping election campaign in the segment and not showing up to vote on Monday, his father and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha said the party was treating a “loyal worker like a criminal.”

Sinha, 61, was denied a re-nomination in Lok Sabha poll and replaced with Manish Jaiswal. Yashwant Sinha, who had quit the BJP in April 2018, today told The Tribune that the notice was “out of line and Jayant will respond with facts.”

“After Jayant was told by BJP president that he was not being considered for the Lok Sabha renomination, he gracefully obeyed. Without ever asking him to campaign, without including him among 40 star campaigners though he is a two-time MP (2014 and 2019), you send him a notice and demand a reply in two days. This is treating him like a criminal,” said Yashwant Sinha, who unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Presidential election as an Opposition nominee against NDA’s Droupadi Murmu.

The notice by BJP Jharkhand general secretary Aditya Sahu says, “You are not taking any interest in the organisational work and election campaigning ever since the party declared Manish Jaiswal as the candidate for the Hazaribagh LS seat. You did not even feel proper to exercise your right of franchise. The party’s image has been maligned due to your conduct.”

Yashwant Sinha didn’t rule out son’s possible expulsion but noted, “The state unit has no jurisdiction to issue a notice to an MP.”

Earlier on March 2, Jayant had taken to X seeking to be relieved of political responsibilities and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for all opportunities.

Yashwant Sinha, meanwhile, said the notice was rooted in Marandi’s urge to promote leaders who were with him when he floated Jharkhand Vikas Morcha.

Didn’t campaign

You are not taking interest in the organisational work and election campaigning… You did not even feel proper to exercise your right to franchise. — Aditya Sahu, Jharkhand BJP leader