Rajasthan BJP suspends 11 rebel leaders, including four ministers for Six years
Jaipur, Nov 23: The Rajasthan BJP has suspended 11 rebel leaders, including four ministers, for six years over their decision to contest elections against party candidates, a party spokesperson said Friday.
Four ministers, Surendra Goyal (Jaitaran), Hem Singh Bhadana (Thanagazi), Rajkumar Rinwa (Ratangarh) and Dhan Singh Rawat (Banswara), who are contesting as independent candidates, are among those who were suspended on Thursday night after they did not withdraw nomination papers.
The party termed the action "expulsion" for six years.
Thursday was the last day for withdrawal of nomination papers for the Rajasthan assembly polls.
The other suspended leaders include sitting MLAs Anita Katara (Sagwara) and Kishna Ram Nai (Sridungargarh) and former MLAs Radheshyam Ganganagar, Laxminarayan, among others.
"They have been expelled from the party for contesting against the party's official candidates," the BJP spokesperson said here.
The rebels were dismissive of the party action.
"I am a five-time MLA and have a good hold on voters in my constituency. Despite that the party dropped me this time and gave the ticket to a candidate who had lost the election of ward panch. I had resigned as a party member and as minister soon after I was dropped by the party and therefore the party's action against me does not hold any value," Goyal said.
Goyal had won from the Jaitaran seat with a margin of 34,874 votes in the 2013 assembly elections.
He said he was banking on the work he did in his constituency and expressed confidence that he will win this year too.
Rawat, who is contesting from Banswara constituency, said the party's decision meant "nothing" to him.
"Why would I care about the party's action? I do not care, I am contesting the elections and will win," he said.
Union minister and senior BJP leader Arjun Ram Meghwal said the disciplinary action against the rebel candidates was routine.
The Rajasthan BJP managed to convince some of the rebel candidates, including sitting MLAs Gyan Dev Ahuja (Ramgarh) and Bhawani Singh Rajawat (Ladpura), to withdraw their nomination papers on Thursday.
Ahuja, a Hindu hardliner, and Rajwat had filed their nomination papers as independent candidates from Sanganer and Ladpura constituencies.
The party has fielded former Congress MP Ijyaraj Singh's wife Kalpna Devi from Ladpura this year.
Apart from the BJP, the Congress is also facing a challenge from the rebels on several seats.
Former Union minister Mahadev Singh Khandela (Khandela), former Rajasthan minister Babulal Nagar (Dudu), former MLA Nathuram Sinodia (Kishangarh), among others, turned rebel after being denied tickets and will be contesting the polls as independent candidates.
A total of 2,294 candidates, including 189 female candidates, are in the fray for the December 7 polls for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly.
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ED searches: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses Centre of targeting Cong leaders
Chamarajanagara (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday accused the central government and its agencies of consistently targeting Congress members by using searches on their properties, and questioned why similar action is not taken against BJP leaders.
He was reacting to searches conducted by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday on several individuals, among them the sons of Karnataka Congress MLA N A Haris and the grandson of former Union Cabinet minister K Rahman Khan, in connection with a cryptocurrency-linked money laundering case.
"The central government always targets Congress leaders. Will they raid the houses of BJP leaders?" Siddaramaiah said in response to a question. More than a dozen premises in the city were searched as part of the operation carried out by the ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The premises searched comprised those of Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad, the sons of the MLA; Aqeeb Khan, the grandson of veteran Congress leader K Rahman Khan; and an alleged crypto hacker, Srikrishna Ramesh, alias Sriki, officials said.
The money laundering case stems from Karnataka Police FIRs and charge sheets filed in a 2017 case involving the hacking of national and international websites, theft of bitcoins, and the sale of these stolen virtual digital assets (VDAs) through crypto platforms by the alleged hacker Sriki and his associates.
Mohammed Haris Nalapad, Omar Farook Nalapad, and Aqeeb Khan are alleged to be beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime generated through this crypto-linked activity, officials added.
