Denied ticket by party, Maneka’s close aide, former MLA rebel

BAREILLY/ PILIBHIT: Refusing to follow the Bharatiya Janata Party’s decision over allotment of tickets for assembly elections, a close aide to Union minister Maneka Gandhi has rebelled over his claim for a ticket. Swami Pravaktanand announced on Wednesday that he will be contesting as Independent candidate if the party leadership did not give him a ticket by Thursday. Similarly, former five-time MLA Ramsewak Patel, who failed to get a ticket from Badaun Sadar seat said that he will take a decision on Thursday on contesting independently to defeat the BJP’s candidate.
Of the four assembly constituencies in Pilibhit, the BJP had given the ticket to only one of local MP Gandhi’s aides, Babu Ram Paswan, for Puranpur. Pravaktanand had contested the state assembly election in 2012 from Barkhera constituency, capturing 47,000 votes to secure the second position. In this constituency, dominated by the Lodh and Kisan communities, his supporters had claimed that this time he would win by a big margin.
“If the BJP fails to give me a ticket in the next two days, I have decided to contest as an Independent. The decision to enter the fray has been taken for me by the thousands of my supporters,” said Pravaktanand. When asked whether Maneka Gandhi would organize public meetings in his support, Pravaktanand declined to comment.
A large number of Pravaktanand’s supporters assembled in a park at Awas Vikas Colony here on Wednesday and loudly declared that they would also “contribute funds from their own pockets for his election, as he has financial problems.”
BJP’s Pilibhit district president, Suresh Gangwar, said, “Pravaktanand’s decision will massively damage the party’s authorized candidate. I will send a report to the state president of the party regarding the developments and Pravaktanand’s rebellion.”
Similarly, Ramsewak Patel has turned rebel after failing to get a ticket from Badaun Sadar constituency. A former five-time MLA, Patel had won from Binawar constituency in Badaun in 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1996 on a BJP ticket. After he didn’t get a ticket from the party in 2007, he contested from Binawar on a ticket from Bharatiya Janshakti Party, won and later re-joined the BJP.
However, the Binawar seat was merged into two constituencies, Badaun Sadar and Bilsi, by the 2012 elections. Though Patel was again denied a ticket in 2012, he contested from Badaun Sadar on a BSP ticket but lost. He again came back to the BJP in 2014.
“The internal survey of the party had stated that I will win the elections but I have still been denied a ticket. There is anger among the public that the BJP has not given me a chance to represent them. A large number of my supporters will gather on Thursday and if they suggest that I contest as an Independent, I will do so,” Patel said.