MP BJP leader "hurt" at being denied LS poll ticket

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh BJP Vice President Raghunandan Sharma on Sunday said he felt "hurt and insulted" at being denied party ticket from the Mandsaur Lok Sabha seat.

"I have been working for the BJP for more than 30 years and never asked for anything from the party. A Lok Sabha ticket for contesting from Mandsaur was the first thing I had asked from the party and it was denied to me," Sharma, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, told PTI. When asked if the BJP sometimes does not treat its own people well, the sulking leader said it was not the case sometimes, but "always." He brooded over party`s failure in treating properly members who always stood by its ideology. Such people make a long list, he alleged. When asked which leaders was he referring to, Sharma said they include party veteran LK Advani, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, Jaswant Singh and many others. "None of these people had come to the BJP from other parties yet they faced tough times," he claimed. He said all along he was given a vague assurance that his name was being considered for candidature from Mandsaur. "Had the party told me in advance that it would not be possible to give me a ticket, I would have myself announced withdrawal from electoral politics," he said. However, Sharma said despite the denial of the ticket, he did not have any plans to quit the BJP. "I will also not do anything that would hurt the interests of the party," he stated. Meanwhile, a report from Mandsaur said some BJP workers, angry over the ticket from the constituency being given to Sudhir Gupta, burnt his effigies there at some places.