In Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar’s hometown, the party’s state secretary Shivraj Goyal has claimed he was ignored during the selection of candidates for the local Municipal Corporation elections.
Goyal, a former Municipal Council president, is the son of Dr Ram Kumar Goyal, who won from Abohar in the Punjab Assembly election in 1997 as a BJP nominee but lost the next two elections.
He said that as many as 32 aspirants from the party cadre had approached the stalwarts’ group seeking tickets.
“Out of them, we shortlisted 16 and informed the party high command. However, only eight were accommodated. Our basic concern is that the party leadership should have consulted old-time activists before releasing the list of 50 candidates for the Abohar Municipal Corporation elections,” he said.
Shivraj added, “We share a cordial relationship with party president Sunil Jakhar. However, on the issue of ticket distribution, the high command did not pay heed to our submissions.”
He claimed the situation had triggered resentment among veteran party workers aspiring for tickets. Consequently, some workers have quit the party, while more are considering doing so.
“I have appealed to them to reconsider their decision because, for all of us, the party is supreme,” he added.
Responding to rumours circulating in a section of the local media that he was planning to quit the BJP, Goyal told The Tribune that he had not taken any such decision so far.
