Allegations of party tickets being sold to the highest bidder before elections were rare in the past, but this time all parties are facing this charge ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections. These charges hold weight because they have been levelled by senior leaders of various parties.
It is widely alleged that almost all parties distributed tickets on financial considerations, thus many sitting MlAs as well as strong contenders were denied tickets. As a result, many of them have turned rebel and decided to contest as Independents or on the symbol of other parties.
The BJP is one such party where such allegations have been hurled by senior-most leaders. The party’s sitting MlA from Raghunathpur in Siwan, Vikram Kunwar openly alleged that he was denied a ticket because he was not in a position to grease the palms of the leadership. “The ticket for Raghunathpur was sold at Rs2 crore to a tainted person who had been a sharpshooter of don Shahabuddin,” said Kunwar, who had won this seat in 2010 with a big margin.
Manoj Sinha, who got the BJP ticket for Raghunathpur, had contested the lok Sabha elections in 2014 on a JD(U) ticket. If Kunwar is making such a serious allegation he must be aware of the deal and the background of Manoj. Both Kunwar and Manoj were together in RJD about two decades back.
Kunwar also supported the allegations levelled by BJP MP from Ara, Raj Kumar Singh. A former Union Home Secretary, Singh’s charges that tickets were sold and the party also gave tickets to criminals, created uproar in the party and senior leaders like Home Minister Rajnath Singh rushed to refute them.
In an admission that money changed hands in ticket distribution, Union Minister and RlSP chief Upendra Kushwaha said, “Except for our party, everywhere money played a role in ticket distribution.” His statement has caused further embarrassment to the BJP.
BJP MP Singh was furious that he was not consulted before finalising the seats and candidates for Ara, Tarari and Barhara seats falling under his lok Sabha constituency. “I had pleaded for tickets to genuine party workers. It was not favouritism but my duty as the MP. I am shocked to see the names of smugglers, robbers, murder accused and criminals in the list of BJP candidates,” said Singh, who also served as Bihar’s Home Secretary.
Similarly, lJP’s Nagina Devi has accused party supremo Ram Vilas Paswan of denying her a ticket. Devi claimed she had been asked to be ready to contest from Belsand constituency. When she tried to meet Paswan she was turned away.
Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) vice-president Vinod Sharma resigned from the party after making allegations of sale of tickets by the State leadership. He alleged the only criterion of candidates’ selection was money. Another senior Congressman and former BPCC president Ram Jatan Sinha has also resigned from the party and decided to contest election from Kurtha seat in Jehanabad. Under the alliance the Congress could not get this seat.
Majority of the 35 MlAs dropped by JD(U) have turned rebel and vowed to fight as Independents or on the symbol of other parties.
Similarly, at least six MlAs of the RJD who have been denied tickets have become rebels and may pose a threat to official candidates of these parties.