Four Lahaul Spiti BJP men oppose Markandey's candidature

Shimla, Oct 16 (UNI) Hours after the BJP's Himachal Pradesh Election Committee recommended former state minister for animal husbandry and public works Ram Lal Markanday's candidature from Lahaul Spiti tribal constituency, four party leaders opposed his candidature, saying he had recently joined the party for personal gains.

Four BJP leaders Mohan Lal Relingpa, Sohan Singh, Champa Chering and Ringjin Rampa said they would oppose Markanday's candidature as he had recently joined BJP after resigning from HVC and Congress.

In a joint letter to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former deputy prime minister L K Advani, state president Jai Ram Thakur and former state chief minister P K Dhumal and former union minister Shanta Kumar, they said if the party ignored their candidature, they would not be left with any option but to resign from the party.

They said the BJP's candidate would definitely lose the elections if they ensured that 2,500 to 3,000 votes were shifted to the candidate of any other party in a constituency which polls about 16,000 votes only.

The tribal BJP leaders said they should have been considered for the aasembly elections from the constituency against Mr Markanday, since they had been associated with the party for a long time.

They also expressed surprise over the party's decision to recommend the name of Mr Markanday who in his 42 years had resigned from two parties to join the BJP for personal gains.

UNI