‘BJP told me not to contest polls,’ says MM Joshi, benched after LK Advani
New Delhi: BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi in a message to voters has declared that he has been told by his party not to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, reported NDTV.
Joshi is the latest to be benched after LK Advani.
Like Advani, MM Joshi is also deeply resentful of the manner in which he was pink-slipped by his party. The message was delivered by BJP general secretary Ramlal and some sources said Joshi felt that of such a decision had been taken, the least that party chief could have done was to convey it to him.
Joshi's message on Monday, addressed to his constituency, read: "Dear voters of Kanpur, Shri Ramlal General Secretary (Org), Bharatiya Janata Party conveyed to me today that I should not contest the ensuing parliamentary election from Kanpur and elsewhere."
Joshi, who has been a union minister and BJP president, has also not been included in the campaigners list of Uttar Pradesh.
In the previous general election, Joshi had given up his Varanasi seat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and moved to Kanpur, where he won by a huge margin,
BJP’s Ramlal has been the bearer of grim tidings for all old-timers.
Advani, Kalraj Mishra, Shanta Kumar and Kariya Munda were informed by Ramlal that they would not contest this time. They were reportedly informed on phone and told to announce that they wouldn’t contest elections. However, Advani refused but all others did.
Read: LK Advani, MM Joshi find no place in BJP's list of UP campaigners
According to source, Advani is also hurt that Amit Shah did not come and inform about the decision.
Amit Shah will contest his Gandhinagar seat this time.
LK Advani and MM Joshi, both founder members of the BJP were denied any post after the party came to power in 2014.
For the first time in decades, the two leaders will not be seen in the Lok Sabha elections.
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