Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini today made it clear there will be no change in the candidates' list announced by the BJP for the assembly election scheduled on October 5.
The Chief Minister's comment comes after the BJP announced its first list of 67 candidates, following which the party faced protests from minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and MLA Lakshman Dass Napa, who were not given tickets. Both have resigned.
Mr Saini said everyone should put to rest any speculation about tweaks in the candidates' list. He said everyone wants a ticket, but the "lotus" can be given to only one person.
"It is natural for ticket-seekers to get angry. But they will be persuaded," the Chief Minister said at a party meeting in Rohtak.
Haryana Energy and Jails Minister Ranjit Chautala, 79, son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, said he took a decision after a meeting with his supporters and will now enter the contest as an iIndependent.
Former minister Karan Dev Kamboj also stepped down as the state BJP's Other Backward Classes (OBC) Morcha chief after he did not get a ticket.
Despite Mr Saini's attempt to downplay the events, former minister Savitri Jindal, who had quit the Congress and joined the BJP in March, days after her son and industrialist Naveen Jindal had also joined the BJP, said she will fight from Hisar, even as an independent.
After quitting the party, Mr Napa met former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at his house in Delhi, and later joined the Congress.
"No one has left the party... Karan Dev Kamboj and Lakshman Napa are our senior leaders... we will make them understand," Mr Saini said.
The BJP is aiming for a hat-trick in Haryana, but faces a tough challenge from a resurgent Congress which is looking to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor.
Mr Saini is the BJP's chief ministerial face for the assembly polls. The counting of votes for the elections to the 90-member assembly will take place on October 8.
In Gurugram, after Mukesh Sharma was announced as BJP candidate, party leader and aspirant Naveen Goyal revolted and resigned. Mr Goyal, state convener of the BJP's business cell and head of its environment protection department, has now decided to contest as an independent.
Along with him, more than 150 party officials and workers announced they are leaving the party.
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