Ghanshyam Tiwari
Rebel Rajasthan BJP leader Ghanshyam Tiwari on Monday said that he has resigned from the party and will fight against the "undeclared emergency" in the state and country.
Tiwari had been at loggerheads with the Vasundhara Raje dispensation in the state over several issues, including farmers' plight, demand of reservation for the upper caste and corruption. He has been criticising Raje and the BJP leadership after the party's national disciplinary committee issued show-cause notices to him last year.
The notices were sent to him after he alleged that the Rajasthan BJP had become a place for mafias and sycophants, while loyal and qualified people were being sidelined.
Tiwari's son Akhilesh has founded a political outfit named 'Bharat Vahini Party' to contest on all 200 Assembly seats in Rajasthan, the election for which is slated to be held later this year.
At a press conference here today, he said, "Undeclared emergency is more dangerous than actual emergency. I have witnessed both the phases and I am resigning from the party (BJP) to fight against it."
Tiwari said it was good that the BJP was observing 'Black Day' against the Emergency declared by the Indira Gandhi-led government on June 25, 1975.
"Though imposing emergency is now not possible, it is worth mentioning that the country is going through a phase of undeclared emergency for the last four years," he said.
The disgruntled leader said that he has sent his resignation to BJP President Amit Shah.
"I will now work against undeclared emergency in the country and state to ensure that no one tries to strangulate democratic institutions for power," Tiwari said.
He claimed that the people of were feeling deceived by the BJP whom they had voted to power in Rajasthan in 2013 and for the 25 Lok Sabha seats, the party had won in the state in the 2014 general elections.
Tiwari said that he will fight the upcoming Assembly election from Sanganer seat under the banner of Bharat Vahini Party, founded by his son, and the doors of the outfit are open for like-minded leaders.
(With PTI inputs)
