Bharatiya Janata Party leader and a close confidant of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Yunus Khan, has sprung a surprise with his decision to contest the Rajasthan Assembly election from his traditional seat, Deedwana. Mr. Khan, a former Minister, has filed his nomination papers after parting ways with the BJP.
The BJP had denied ticket to Mr. Khan in its third list of candidates, released last week, and fielded Jitendera Singh Jodha, who had lost to Chetan Dudi of Congress by a margin of 40,602 votes in the 2018 election, in his place. Mr. Khan, the BJP’s lone Muslim candidate in 2018, had unsuccessfully contested against Congress’s Sachin Pilot in Tonk.
Mr. Khan was seen as being sidelined within the BJP despite having a good clout among Muslims, Jats and Rajputs in Deedwana, which now forms part of the newly created Deedawana-Kuchaman district. The BJP has not fielded a Muslim candidate at any of the 200 Assembly seats in the State this time.
During the two previous tenures of Ms. Raje as the CM, Mr. Khan held important Ministerial portfolios, such as Public Works Department and Transport. He was elected an MLA twice from Deedwana, in 2003 and 2013, and had received support from the BJP’s stalwart and former Vice President, the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
Mr. Khan, who filed his nomination on Monday, said after addressing a rally of his supporters in Deedwana that the BJP had taken some decisions “in a hurry”. “A lot of things have changed in the BJP. The party is not following the principles laid down by the leaders such as Deendayal Upadhyaya and Atal Bihari Vajpayee anymore,” he said.
“I contested the [Assembly] polls from Deedwana four times and abided by the party’s instructions to fight against Sachin Pilot in Tonk. After my defeat, I was ignored by the party… I was not even invited to or informed about the party’s programmes. I have left the BJP with a heavy heart,” Mr. Khan said.
Mr. Khan’s prospects are likely to be decided by his personal rapport with the voters and the elders of different communities as well as his ability to generate sympathy for himself in the constituency.
The former BJP leader, who used to go to file nominations accompanied by a huge crowd of his supporters earlier, went to the office of the Returning Officer this time by an auto rickshaw. Only a handful of the local political workers accompanied him and he returned silently after filing his papers.
