Denied ticket, Haryana minister resigns from cabinet, to contest independently
Haryana Cabinet Minister Chaudhary Ranjit Singh Chautala on Thursday resigned from his post after being denied a ticket by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the upcoming state assembly elections. Later in the day, Chautala announced, "I will contest election from Rania Assembly at any cost. BJP had offered me to contest the election from Dabwali but I refused." To recall, the BJP has excluded nine sitting MLAs, including Chautala, from its first list of 67 candidates.
'Decision of my constituency...': Chautala
The former minister added that he will contest as an independent candidate. "It is the decision of the people of my constituency," he said. Notably, the BJP has fielded Shishpal Kamboj from Rania seat. Earlier, BJP Ratia MLA Lakshman Napa had resigned from the primary membership of the party after being denied a ticket for the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls. Napa had announced his decision shortly after the BJP released its first list of candidates.
Watch: Ranjit Singh Chautala's statement here
Chautala's journey with BJP
Chautala, the brother of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, joined the BJP earlier this year ahead of the Lok Sabha election after resigning as an Independent MLA. He contested the Hisar parliamentary seat but was defeated by the Congress's Jai Parkash. Despite his defeat in Hisar, he continued as Power Minister under a rule that allows a politician to remain a minister for six months without being a member of the state Assembly.
