Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur considers the rift between the party members on ticket allocation 'normal', adding that BJP is trying to put an end to and solve the matter via talks. The statement of Himachal's ex-Chief Minister comes on Wednesday.
Regarding the discord within the BJP following the allocation of tickets to six Congress defectors who supported the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls and joined the party on March 23, he stated that the party has engaged with numerous party members and officials to resolve the matter.
People do get angry in times of elections and talks are on, he told media persons in Kullu, claiming that the matter would be resolved soon.
"We are trying to convey our side to them. We are trying to contact them and ask them to rethink their decision," he said.
Former Himachal Pradesh minister and BJP leader from Lahaul and Spiti assembly constituency, Ram Lal Markanda, had on Tuesday quit the party to protest the fielding of Congress rebel Ravi Thakur who had defeated him on the seat in the last assembly election.
The BJP had on Tuesday named Congress rebels Ravi Thakur from Lahaul and Spiti, Sudhir Sharma from Dharamshala, Rajinder Rana from Sujanpur, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal from Barsar, Chetanya Sharma from Gagret and Devinder Kumar Bhutto from Kutlehar.
All office-bearers of the BJP's Lahaul and Spiti block unit also resigned against the party's decision and pledged support to Markanda, saying they would support him in the by-election.
Markanada was the agriculture and tribal development minister during the previous BJP government led by Jai Ram Thakur. He had lost the 2022 assembly elections to Ravi Thakur, who was then in the Congress, by a margin of 1542 votes.
"I have left the BJP today along with my supporters and would contest the assembly polls. I will contest the assembly by-polls for sure. There is a possibility of my contesting from the Congress party," he stated.
Himachal will go for the Assembly bypolls on June 1, along with the election to the four Lok Sabha seats in the state - Hamirpur, Shimla, Mandi, and Kangra.
In conversation with the BJP leader and former rural development and panchayati raj minister Virender Kanwar has also expressed his displeasure over the party picking Congress rebel Devinder Kumar Bhutto, a first-time MLA from Kutlehar, in his place and said that the decision should be reviewed.
"The party is above everything but the people of my constituency are disappointed and want that the decision of the party should be reviewed by conducting a fresh survey on popularity in the area. Bhutto worked like a dictator in the past 15 months and has lost the goodwill of the people," he had added.
Ranjit Singh of the BJP, who lost to Rajendra Rana of the Congress in the 2022 assembly polls by a margin of 399 votes, has announced to contest as an Independent.
He said, "In the Lok Sabha elections, I will support BJP candidate Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur but in the byelections, I will contest as an Independent candidate." Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had also said on Tuesday that some BJP leaders including Markanda and Rakesh Kalia from Gagret are in contact with the Congress.
Both Markanda and Kalia had lost the 2022 assembly elections.
All the six Congress MLAs who were disqualified for defying a whip to vote in favor of the government during the cut motions and the budget had joined the BJP along with the three Independent MLAs.
These nine MLAs had voted in favour of BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha elections held in the state on February 27, triggering a crisis for the Congress-led government in the state.
With the disqualification of the six Congress MLAs, the strength of the ruling party has come down from 40 to 34, including the Speaker who can vote only in the case of a tie during a floor test, in the 68-member assembly. The BJP has 25 members in the House.
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