Senior BJP leader and three-time MP from Chandauli Anand Ratan Maurya resigned from the primary membership of the party on Tuesday citing lack of democracy as the reason for quitting the party.
He sent his resignation to state president Mahendra Nath Pandey.
“I was forced to resign because there is lack of democracy in the party and I was feeling stifled. There is arrogance in the attitude of senior leaders who neglect dedicated party workers,” Maurya told The Pioneer on telephone from Chandauli.
Though he said that he had not made up his mind from where he would contest election but political grapevine is ripe with speculation that he might join the Congress as BJP leadership had informed him that he would not get ticket this time. In 2014 too, he did not get a ticket from the BJP, instead the party gave the ticket to Mahendra Nath Pandey.
“This is true that I was indirectly told that I will not get ticket this time. We are active politicians who love to contest elections. If we are not allowed to contest, this will obviously have an impact on our political career,” he said. He ruled out that he would be joining the Congress. I have not spoken to anyone in Congress till date but will take a call within a day or two.
Maurya had contested five Lok Sabha elections and won three times as the BJP candidate. He lost one election as the BJP candidate in 1999 and other as the SP candidate in 2004.