Denied a ticket for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, BJP MLA from Bairia Surendra Singh on Tuesday resigned from the primary membership of the party. He said he will now contest elections as an independent from Bairia, from where the BJP has fielded state minister Anand Swaroop Shukla, who won from Ballia Sadar seat in the 2017 Assembly elections.
"Today I have resigned from the primary membership of the BJP. The top leadership of the BJP has not respected my 'seva dharma' and 'sanskar'. I will now contest the elections on the strength of the people and will file my nomination papers on February 11," Singh told reporters at his residence in Bairia. Taking a jibe at Shukla, who is the minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Singh said, "The BJP has sent the rejected person from Ballia Sadar to Bairia and the people of Bairia will not accept him."
Singh also claimed that the BJP will lose all the five assembly seats in the Ballia Lok Sabha constituency. The Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7. The counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.
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