Dehradun: Just hours after leaving the BJP-fold, former MLAs Dhan Singh Negi and Rajkumar Thukral alleged on Thursday that the party was selling assembly seats for sky-high prices.
Within a few hours of joining Congress, Negi made a serious allegation against his former party, saying it had been selling candidatures in exchange for money.
Negi, who blasted the BJP soon after switching over to Congress in the presence of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, claimed that the candidature for the Tehri assembly constituency “had been sold by BJP for Rs 10 crore”, proceeding to call BJP “ticket selling party” in the process.
The ex-MLA said that he had information pertaining to the fact that “tickets were being taken from the party in exchange of crores of rupees". He highlighted that his task now was to solidify the presence of Congress in the state.
The ruling party also saw another defection in Uttarakhand on Thursday, as Rajkumar Thukral, a BJP MLA from Rudrapur assembly constituency in Udham Singh Nagar district, left the BJP-fold and said he will contest the elections as an independent candidate.
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As per information, Thukral's resignation came after the party denied him a candidature for the upcoming Uttarakhand assembly elections, instead gave ticket BJP district president Shiv Arora to contest the elections from the Rudrapur assembly seat.
“Shiv Arora has destroyed BJP from Jaspur to Khatima. Workers from every constituency are on the streets. Five crore rupees have been taken to provide the ticket for the Rudrapur assembly”, Thukral claimed, adding that he would soon reveal more details by reaching out to the public.
Arora, meanwhile, said, “BJP is a family. The party makes an assessment after which a worker is provided the candidature. A solution will be found after sitting among the family”.
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Ahead of assembly polls, both the aforementioned defections display the swift yet intense shifts taking place in state politics. Apart from both Negi and Thukral, former BJP leader Kishor Upadhyay has also joined Congress.
The Uttarakhand assembly elections are set to kick off on February 14, with results for the 70 seats scheduled to come out on March 10.
