New Delhi: The ruling BJP in Haryana released its second list of 21 candidates for the state Assembly elections, dropping seven sitting MLAs, including two ministers and state party president Mohan Lal Badoli.
The ministers who were denied tickets include school education minister and Badkhal MLA Seema Trikha, who has been replaced with Dhanesh Adlakha, and health minister and Bawal MLA Banwari Lal, who has been replaced with Krishna Kumar.
Significantly, Trikha has been the only woman minister in the BJP Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. She had defeated in the Badkhal seat Congress candidates Vijay Pratap Singh and Mahendra Pratap Singh in the 2019 and 2014 polls, respectively.
Badoli, who represents the Rai seat in Sonipat district, has been replaced with Krishna Gehlawat. Earlier, Badoli had declared that he would not contest the October 5 Assembly elections as he would “focus on trying to make the party win in all 90 seats of the state”.
The BJP’s first list of 67 candidates announced last week triggered widespread resentment in the party ranks. The second list, too, caused discontent in the party, with state unit executive member Shiv Kumar Mehta sending his resignation from the party to Badoli. He was a ticket aspirant from the Narnaul seat, from where the party has fielded Om Prakash Yadav.
State BJP spokesperson Satyavrat Shastri also resigned from the party’s primary membership, alleging that the party has moved away from its values and was influenced by people with “opposite ideology”.
