Blow to Rajasthan BJP as Tiwari quits, forms new party

Ahead of the Assembly polls in Rajasthan, senior BJP leader and a five-time MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari has resigned from the BJP.

Tiwari has sent his resignation to party president Amit Shah on Monday.

Tiwari, who was a minister, has formed a new party along with this son to fight against the "undeclared Emergency" in Rajasthan and the country.

Often referred as a rebel BJP leader, Tiwari has been at loggerheads with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on several occasions during her present tenure.

In the letter addressed to Shah, Tiwari has mentioned that the BJP will not get good results in the next elections if Vasundhara continues.

Stating the reason behind his resignation, the disgruntled leader mentioned in the letter that people in the BJP are disillusioned with Vasundhara as "she operates in an autocratic manner. Vasundhara Raje has filled many positions with outsiders rather than with party leading to the dissatisfaction among the BJP members. Its high time and the BJP should change its leadership in Rajasthan," Tiwari urged Shah.

What went wrong

The rift between Tiwari and Vasundhara grew in the last one year. It started when he revolted against Vasundhara by burning the copies of Rajasthan Ministers Salaries (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which was passed by her government to take life-long possession of the bungalow in question.

In another instance, Tiwari also revolted against Vasundhara for bringing a controversial gag law which would shield judges and government servants from being investigated. He termed the bill as 'kala kanoon' (black law) while replying to the Budget debate in the Assembly.

Following his open protests, the state BJP leadership had taken note of Tiwari's rebellious ways but had been reluctant to sack or suspend him from the party.

Minutes after his resignation, Ghanshyam's son Akhilesh - the president of the newly formed Bharat Vahini Party - said that the party's aim is to contest the election on all 200 Assembly seats under Tiwari's leadership.

The party is going to organise its first state meeting of leaders and workers in Jaipur on July 3. Akhilesh said 10 representatives from each Assembly seat have been invited. The Election Commission has recognised the party, allowing it to field candidates in the Assembly polls.

Setback for BJP

With Assembly polls just around the corner, Tiwari's exit is a huge setback for the BJP. Tiwari is a sitting MLA from Sanganer Assembly constituency and won the last Assembly election by the highest margin in Rajasthan, significantly more than the margin by which Vasundhara had won.

He defeated the Congress candidate by more than 60,000 votes and garnered more than 60% of the votes polled in his constituency.