Bhopal: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur on Tuesday said the BJP has to give tickets to him and his associates for the 2018 Assembly polls as they can win their seats.
Gaur was axed from the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet in 2015, along with the then Forest minister Sartaj Singh, as the party adopted the 75 plus formula as suggested by the high command. However, BJP chief Amit Shah recently said during his Bhopal visit that there was no such rule formulated by the party.
“I, Laxmikant Sharma and Raghavji would contest the 2018 Assembly polls and party has to give tickets to us because we are winning candidates. Party can’t afford to make changes in seats it won last time,” said Gaur, who has won 10 Assembly elections from Bhopal’s Govindpura constituency.
Gaur’s statements came close on the heels of state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan’s statement that only “winnable candidates” would be given tickets and elderly leaders could be axed as they can’t take physical stress anymore.
Bhopal mayor Alok Sharma and Huzur MLA Rameshwar Sharma are both eyeing the Govindpura seat for 2018.
Reacting to Gaur’s remarks, BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal told News18 that ticket distribution is a perogative of the state and central election committees. Asked if the door is still open for elders to get tickets, Agrawal claimed that it was purely up to the election committee.
Laxmikant Sharma had caused major embarrassment to the party as Vyapam scam surfaced during his tenure as higher and technical education minister. He lost his cabinet berth and party membership afterwards.
Raghavaji was expelled from the party in July 2013 after his domestic help accused him of sexually exploitation and lodged an FIR.
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