BJP veteran denied ticket to return to farming

Ranchi, March 24

Former Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker and eight-time Lok Sabha member Kariya Munda said on Sunday that he would return to farming after the BJP denied him ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Jharkhand.

In the list of BJP candidates, Kariya Munda has been replaced by former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Arjun Munda.

Kariya Munda was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977. He became Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha in 2009.

"I went to Lok Sabha from farming. I will return to farming. I was in politics to serve the people, not due to any vested interests. God has given me so many things," an upset Munda told reporters.

The name of Kariya Munda, who is widely respected in Jharkhand, was floated for Chief Ministership when Jharkhand was carved out from Bihar in 2000. Almost two decades later, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to have dumped him. IANS