BJP sidetracks senior leaders

DARBHANGA: Sanjay Sarawagi''s entry into high-voltage politics as BJP''s official candidate has been greeted with protests from the supporters of one of the key contenders for the party seat.
While Sarawagi, a ward councillor in Darbhanga Municipal Corporation, succeeded in his endeavour to get ticket, senior leader Shivnath Verma and party veteran Satya Narayan Gami have missed the train.
Verma had been fielded as BJP''s official nominee from Darbhanga town constituency during the last assembly elections. He came a close second to the RJD''s winning candidate Sultan Ahmad, who managed to lift the seat with a slender margin.
Another candidate Gami had then played the role of spoilsport for the BJP. He had contested the elections as an independent candidate after BJP denied him the ticket. Gami managed to garner a little over 32,000 votes. However, BJP leadership had inducted Gami into the party fold ahead of parliamentary polls last year.
Gami''s supporters have already made their intention clear after denial of ticket to the latter. They staged a demonstration against the party leadership and burnt the effigies of state unit BJP leaders. As many as hundred party activists led by a ward president (ward number 11) have already submitted their resignation to the BJP town unit president in protest.
Meanwhile, speculation is rife here that Gami has now begun lobbying for the RJD ticket. "But then in politics, you cannot say anything with authenticity nowadays. Gossip mill always keeps you enthralled," remarked a political analyst.