BJP Suspends 11 Rebel Leaders in Rajasthan, Including Vasundhara Raje's 4 Ministers, as Polls Near

Jaipur: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday expelled 11 rebel leaders, including four ministers in Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's cabinet, from the primary membership of the party for six years.

The action has been taken against these leaders for refusing to withdraw their nominations for the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections in favour of alternative candidates picked by the party.

Two of the leaders each have been expelled from Churu, Jaipur and Pali districts of the state. Whereas one leader each from Sri Ganganagar, Alwar, Bikaner, Banswara and Dungarpur has been expelled for fighting against party's official candidate.

After the announcement of the candidate list, many BJP leaders have shifted camps.

While many legislators resigned from the party after being dropped, several of them have also filed nominations from their current seats for the December 7 polls and will compete with the BJP picks.

The Vasundhara Raje government is seen to be facing a massive anti-incumbency sentiment in Rajasthan this time round, and the BJP has dropped several sitting MLAs to minimise the effect.

On November 18, BJP sitting MLA from Ramgarh constituency Gyandev Ahuja had resigned from the party and later announced to contest as an independent candidate after the party declined to give him ticket.

Last Wednesday, former BJP legislator Habibur Rahaman Ashrafi Lamba joined the Congress party. Rahman had tendered his resignation on November 12 to state BJP chief Madan Lal Saini after he found his name was missing from the party's first list.

Manvendra Singh, rebel BJP lawmaker-turned-Congress candidate, is even facing off against Raje from the Jhalarapathan assembly seat. Relations between Singh and the BJP leadership had soured considerably after his father, former Union Minister Jaswant Singh, was denied a ticket for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

However, the BJP is not the only party with a rebel problem. The Congress is said to have over 40 rebel leaders, including four former ministers, who could possibly spoil its chances of electoral victory.