New Delhi: Asserting that he was being “unfairly targeted”, former Union minister and BJP MP Jayant Sinha asserted that he was “very surprised” to get a letter asking him why he didn’t vote in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections and why he did not take part in campaigning.
In his response to the letter of BJP’s Jharkhand general secretary Aditya Sahu, the outgoing Hazaribagh MP also expressed surprise that the letter was released to the media as well.
Jayant reminded Sahu that he had informed BJP chief J.P. Nadda way back in March that he would be stepping back from electoral responsibilities and further made this decision known publicly via “a tweet for clarity and transparency”.
The BJP MP went on to comment that he then left for abroad for some “pressing personal commitments” after informing the Lok Sabha Speaker and that too not before sending his vote through postal ballot.
While the BJP fielded Manish Jaiswal as its candidate for Hazaribagh, Jayant said he had endorsed him right from the day the candidature was announced. Voting in Hazaribagh took place on 20 May.
The two-time MP asserted that he had maintained “political restraint and decorum” in the face of several requests not to withdraw from the elections.
The party, the BJP MP said in his two-page letter which was also put up Wednesday on social media platform ‘X’, could have contacted him if there was any electoral responsibility. “However, not a single senior party official or MP/MLA from Jharkhand reached out to me. I was not invited for any party events, rallies, or organisational meetings.”
My response to Shri Aditya Sahu ji’s letter sent on May 20, 2024 pic.twitter.com/WfGIIyTvdz
— Jayant Sinha (Modi Ka Parivar) (@jayantsinha) May 22, 2024
Jayant further said that he received a call from Jaiswal on 29 April to attend his nomination rally on 1 May but by then it came late. Nevertheless, the outgoing MP wrote that he reached Hazaribagh on 2 May and met the BJP candidate’s family at their residence.
The two-time MP then went on to highlight his 25-year association with the BJP and asserted that his work has been widely appreciated in Hazaribagh which he represented twice consecutively.
“Given my contribution to the party and the circumstances, the public issuance of your letter is unseemly. Your approach demoralises dedicated party workers and undermines the party’s collective efforts. Additionally, despite my loyalty and hard work for the party, it appears that I am being unjustly targeted,” he wrote to Sahu.
“We could have certainly spoken in person or on the phone at any time to address any of your misgivings. As the party official responsible for the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha elections, you could have reached me at any time. To send me a letter after the elections are over is incomprehensible,” Jayant added.
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What both sides say
A source close to Jayant told ThePrint that he was in America and that is why he did not participate in election campaigning. “Although before going to the US, he appealed to voters to ensure a win for the BJP in Hazaribagh.”
The outgoing BJP MP’s previous post on X was a tribute to late BJP leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi.
The BJP leadership is miffed with Jayant after his son Arish was seen with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at a rally in Barhi on 13 May. Jayant’s father Yashwant Sinha had campaigned for the Congress candidate in Hazaribagh. The presence of Arish at the Congress event was construed as a message to the party, BJP insiders said.
“Jayant won this seat with more than four lakh margin…He is a well-articulate politician on economy and well qualified even more than Finance minister Nirmala Sitaram … despite that he was denied ticket on wrong feedback and internal infighting. So, he decided to concentrate on other things,” a source close to the Sinha family told ThePrint.
Jayant’s father Yashwant Sinha, too, slammed the BJP for not fielding the sitting MP.
“In 2019, Jayant retained seat by defeating the Congress candidate by more than 4.5 lakh, which is more than Modi’s victory margin. He is more qualified and well-deserved to represent the seat than the present BJP candidate. In any family, there can be two persons with different ideologies; there is no harm. If they have punished him for my ideology, it’s wrong for democracy and even for the BJP. He will consider his prospects after the results are out,” he told ThePrint .
He further said his grandchild was not even eligible for voting. “He came after his studies; it has nothing to do with joining any party now.”
A BJP insider told ThePrint that during the Modi government’s first term, the late BJP leader and then finance minister Arun Jaitley was not particularly happy with Jayant’s view on economy and his presence at CEO roundtable and other high-profile events. Jayant was later shifted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2016.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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