Denied ticket, Surendra Goyal may queer BJP’s pitch

Five-time MLA and cabinet minister in Vasundhara Raje government, Surendra Goyal is the first senior party member to turn a rebel.

It is believed that local RSS unit opposed to Goyal getting party ticket. He represented

Jaitaran

in Pali which is known to be communally sensitive. In April this year, curfew had to be clamped in the town after clashes between two communities erupted. Goyal had reportedly supported members of the minority community then, which irked the local BJP and RSS units.

Rajya Sabha

MP Om Prakash Mathur too was not in favour of giving him a ticket.

A law graduate, Goyal had won in 2013 with a comfortable margin of 36,000 votes. He resigned from the party the very next day after his name was dropped, announcing he would never return to BJP again. He will be contesting from his seat as an independent.

Known to have a clean image, Goyal was shocked at the party’s decision. The MLA has contested eight elections, first as an independent in 1980. He was inducted into BJP and asked to contest by former vice-president

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

. He had lost both the times but then went on to win four consecutive elections from 1990. He had lost in 2008.

“I paid a price for not having a RSS background and also not favouring one community over the other. However, only BJP leaders can explain the exact reason why was I dropped,’’ Goyal told TOI.

BJP has nominated Avinash Gehlot in place of Goyal, a local yuva morcha leader backed by RSS.


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