The BJP faction led by former MLA Arjun Thakur today won key posts in the Block Development Committee (BDC) of the neighbouring Jawali Assembly constituency, represented by Congress legislator and Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar. Neither the Congress nor the official BJP faction led by Sanjay Guleria, who contested the last Assembly election from Jawali, could secure the support of the newly elected BDC members.
BJP-backed candidates and supporters of Arjun Thakur — Rajinder Singh and Madan Lal — were elected chairman and vice-chairman of the BDC, respectively. The election proceedings, held at Jawali on Thursday, required a quorum of 14 members out of a total of 26 newly elected members.
Congress supporters and loyalists of Guleria abstained from the election process, paving the way for the victory of Arjun Thakur’s camp. Earlier, three out of four Zila Parishad wards in the Jawali Assembly constituency were also won by Thakur’s supporters. Arjun Thakur, who arrived in Jawali after the election concluded, hailed the victory of the BJP-backed candidates.
Thakur had won the 2017 Assembly election on a BJP ticket by defeating Congress stalwart Chander Kumar by a margin of 8,213 votes. However, he was denied a party ticket in the 2022 Assembly election. Sanjay Guleria, his arch-rival, was given the BJP ticket from Jawali but he lost to Chander Kumar.
