Denied ticket for Khatauli seat, miffed RLD leader joins BJP

Lucknow, Nov 16: Miffed over denial of ticket from Khatauli assembly seat, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Abhishek Chaudhary Gurjar has joined the BJP. Gurjar, who was the RLD's national spokesperson, joined the BJP at the residence of state BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary here on Tuesday.

Sources said Gurjar was upset with the RLD leadership which gave ticket to former MLA Madan Bhaiya for the Khatauli seat. The election was necessitated after BJP MLA Vikram Saini was convicted and sentenced by a special court in connection with a case related to the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013.

In the Assembly election held earlier this year, Vikram Saini had defeated the RLD's Rajpal Saini by 16,345 votes. Madan Bhaiya had fought the last Assembly poll on an RLD ticket from Loni in Ghaziabad but lost to the BJP's sitting MLA Nand Kishore Gurjar.

The BJP has named Rajkumari Saini, wife of Vikram Saini from the Khatauli seat. BJP state president Chaudhary said his party would be strengthened with the joining of the RLD leader.