BJP leader's supporters protest after he failed to get ticket

, Oct 20: Supporters of

leader, whose name did not figure in the first list of the party candidates for the

Assembly polls, today protested at the party's headquarters here, demanding a ticket for the leader.

Scores of supporters of state BJP vice-president Sachchidanand Upsane reached 'Ekatm Parisar', the state BJP headquarters, after the announcement of the first list of 67 candidates of the ruling BJP as his name did not figure in it. The supporters reached the party office and began shouting slogans, demanding that their leader be given a ticket to contest polls from the Raipur City North Assembly constituency.

A BJP leader from the Sindhi community Srichand Sundrani, has been given the BJP ticket to contest from the Raipur City North seat. Policemen soon reached the spot to prevent any clash between supporters of Upsane and Sundarani. "Police personnel were sent to the BJP headquarters due to a demonstration there. So far there is no tension and everything is under control," Raipur Superintendent of Police O P Pal said.

However, Upasane's supporters continued their protest against the ticket distribution and held a sit-in before the party office until the filing of this report. Denial of ticket to Upasane would be injustice, his supporter and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader Fanindra Tiwari said, adding that their leader has a strong support base in this constituency and was in a position to win by a huge margin.

When contacted, Upsane said that if the BJP's decision is not changed, he could contest polls as an Independent candidate as demanded by his supporters.

PTI