Sarangi quits BJP over denial of by-poll ticket

Vijay Deo Jha

A day before declaration of the result of the Jamshedpur parliamentary by-election, disgruntled BJP leader and former Health Minister Dinesh Sarangi resigned from the party, ostensibly because he was denied a ticket to contest the polls.

The former MLA from Bahragora sent his resignation to the party national president, Nitin Gadkari, on Sunday morning. "It was a painful decision but I was forced to make it. The BJP in Jharkhand is a one-man show run by Arjun Munda. I was neglected many times by the leadership. I was denied a ticket despite having mass support," he told The Pioneer.

Sarangi and the State BJP have not been on the same page for the last couple of years. Many-a-time, the story of his sour relations with Munda landed in the public domain with each speaking against the other.But this time the rift has widened beyond repair. Sarangi was a strong claimant of the ticket but a last-moment intervention by Munda who, according to the party sources, was authorised to decide the candidate, ruined his chances. Munda favoured the party's State president, Dineshananda Goswami for the ticket.A disappointed Sarangi withdrew himself from the campaign despite repeated requests from the party andSarangi quits BJP over denial of by-poll ticket also refused to take part in the election rally of the BJP which was addressed by Gadkari."Some BJP leaders tried to get me to join the campaign but I refused. My supporters were quite angry at my humiliation," Sarangi said. Though, the election result will be announced on Monday, party insiders indicated that it may suffer a substantial loss of votes in Bahragora. Ironically, Bahragora is also the home constituency of Goswami.Sarangi is yet to reveal his future plans but indications are that he will join the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha of Babulal Marandi under whose regime he had served as Health Minister.The party has served a notice to him alleging anti-party activities during the by-election in which he allegedly helped Jharkhand Vikas Morcha candidate Ajay Kumar against Goswami. Sarangi, however, denied having received any such notice.