The Opposition BJP in Rajasthan on Wednesday expelled senior MLA and former Assembly Speaker Kailash Meghwal from the party’s primary membership. The action against Mr. Meghwal was taken on disciplinary grounds for contesting the upcoming State Assembly election against the officially declared BJP candidate at Shahpura seat in Bhilwara district.
BJP State Disciplinary Committee chief Onkar Singh Lakhawat announced the decision here after Mr. Meghwal, 89, refused to withdraw his candidature. The six-time octogenarian MLA had sought a ticket from the reserved constituency of Shahpura and later filed the nomination papers as an Independent when the party did not field him.
Mr. Lakhawat said Mr. Meghwal’s act had been treated as a “breach of discipline”. The BJP has fielded Lalaram Bairwa as its official candidate from the Shahpura seat. Mr. Meghwal, considered a heavyweight leader from former Chief Minister Vasundahra Raje’s camp, was in the eye of a storm ever since he levelled corruption charges against Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal earlier this year.
Mr. Meghwal had called the Union Minister “corrupt number one” at a public meeting and alleged that he had taken bribes worth crores of rupees as an officer in Churu district before he entered politics. He demanded that Mr. Arjun Meghwal be removed from his Cabinet post until the charges against him, including some cases reportedly pending in the courts, were decided.
Meanwhile, the ruling Congress on Wednesday expelled as many as 49 leaders for six years for their refusal to withdraw candidature as Independents despite warning having been issued to them. AICC in-charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said the rebels were opposing the officially declared party candidates in their constituencies and trying to damage their prospects in the polls.
