BJP faces revolt over Rajya Sabha nomination (Lead)
March 21st, 2012 - 1:33 am ICT by IANS
New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) The row in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Rajya Sabha nominations erupted Tuesday as senior leader Yashwant Sinha slammed the decision not to field a BJP member from Jharkhand.
The decision to back Anshuman Mishra, an NRI who has been principal secretary to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as an independent for the seat, has upset several leaders.
The issue was raised at a meeting of its parliamentary party Tuesday.
According to party sources, party leader L.K. Advani has called a meeting of party leaders and is likely to ask BJP legislators in Jharkhand not to vote for Mishra.
The BJP has 18 members in the Jharkhand assembly.
Expressing his dissent, Sinha said “money power” was taking over the Rajya Sabha polls.
“A worker should have been nominated. MLAs should not be put on the auction block to the highest bidder. (L.K.) Advaniji has assured he would talk to party president. Outsiders should not be given ticket,” he told reporters here.
“BJP MLAs have signed nomination papers of A. Mishra. I’m pained by this,” he said.
According to the sources, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are also opposed to Mishra. “Mishra belongs to neither BJP nor Jharkhand,” Sinha said.
BJP leader S.S. Ahluwalia, a member from Jharkhand who is retiring April 2, was not re-nominated.
Evading any direct comment, Ahluwalia told reporters that Advani had promised to talk to party president Nitin Gadkari.
According to sources, Mishra has the backing of Gadkari.
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- Dissent grows in BJP over Rajya Sabha nomination - Mar 21, 2012
- Jaitley files defamation suit against Anshuman Mishra - Mar 26, 2012
- Mishra withdraws RS nomination amid rift in BJP (Second Lead) - Mar 21, 2012
- BJP not to vote for Mishra in Jharkhand (Lead) - Mar 21, 2012
- Gadkari hits out at Anshuman Mishra, calls allegations baseless - Mar 25, 2012
- Anshuman Mishra's allegations are baseless, says BJP - Mar 24, 2012
- Rajya Sabha poll: JMM irked over BJP decision to field Ahluwalia - Apr 19, 2012
- Sad that Ahluwalia lost: BJP - May 03, 2012
- Finally, Advani-Gadkari feud out in the open (Third Lead) - Jun 01, 2012
- Advani shocker: People upset with BJP too (Second Lead) - May 31, 2012
- Top BJP leaders likely to skip Munda swearing-in (Night Lead) - Sep 10, 2010
- BJP denies Gadkari, Advani rift over Jharkhand moves - Sep 10, 2010
- Advani to stay away from Ranchi, BJP says all is fine - Sep 10, 2010
- With RS horse trading reports, Jharkhand in news for wrong reasons - Mar 31, 2012
Tags: auction block, bharatiya janata party, dissent, former prime minister, highest bidder, l k advani, money power, murli manohar joshi, nitin, nomination papers, nri, outsiders, parliamentary party, party leader, party leaders, party president, principal secretary, rajya sabha, swaraj, vajpayee