Resigns from BJP for being denied Lahaul-Spiti bypoll ticket
MANDI: The BJP in Himachal Pradesh witnessed the first rebellion after the induction of six disqualified Congress rebel MLAs into the party as former minister Ram Lal Markanda resigned from party along with office-bearers of the Lahaul-Spiti district unit.
Markanda also levelled serious allegations claiming that “certain dissenting MLAs received substantial sums amounting to Rs 50 crore from the BJP to defect to the party”. He asserted that despite assurances from prominent BJP leaders in Delhi regarding ticket allocation, the candidate list omitted his names, a development he found “disheartening”.
Markanda opposed the BJP ticket to his political rival Ravi Thakur, to whom he had lost by a narrow margin of 1,616 votes in the 2022 Assembly elections. Thakur along with five other disqualified Congress MLAs joined the BJP recently and all six of them were on Tuesday (March 26, 2024) allotted the BJP ticket for the byelections to be held on June 1. Markanda also criticised Ravi Thakur for his alleged stance against reservation policies and his historical antagonism towards the people of Lahaul.
Along with Markanda, nearly 100 BJP office-bearers and workers of Lahaul-Spiti district too tendered their resignations, throwing their weight behind their former minister who has won thrice in 1998, 2007 and 2017.
Addressing a gathering of party workers and officials in Keylong, Markanda minced no words in expressing his resolve. Despite being denied the ticket by the BJP for the upcoming byelection, he publicly declared his intent to contest the bypoll, vowing to “represent the people’s interests, regardless of party affiliation”.
Markanda also said he would lead a delegation of supporters to Delhi to engage with the BJP leadership. However, he made it clear that if their concerns remain unaddressed, he would not hesitate to fight the bypoll as an Independent candidate.
