New Delhi:

Former Union Minister and MP Jayant Sinha on Wednesday said that he was “surprised” to receive the BJP’s show cause notice asking him why he didn’t vote in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections and did not take part in election campaigning.

In response to BJP’s Jharkhand general secretary Aditya Sahu’s letter, Mr Sinha said that he voted through the postal ballot process as he was overseas for “personal commitments”. 

“I was very surprised to receive your letter and discover that you have released it to the media as well,” Mr Sinha, who is the sitting MP from the Hazaribagh seat in Jharkhand, said in a two-page letter to Mr Sahu.

Responding to Mr Sahu’s charge that he has not been taking part in “organisational work and election campaigning” ever since Manish Jaiswal was declared a candidate from the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat, Mr Sinha said that he was not invited for “any party events, rallies or organizational meetings”.

“The party announced Shri Manish Jaiswal ji as its candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. My endorsement was evident when I congratulated Shri Jaiswal ji on March 8, 2024, an event that was well-documented on social media and demonstrated my unwavering support for the party’s choice,” he said.

“If the part wanted me to participate in any election activities, you could surely have contacted me. However, not a single senior party official or MP/MLA from Jharkhand reached out to me. I was not invited to any party events, rallies, or organizational meetings,” he said.

My response to Shri Aditya Sahu ji’s letter sent on May 20, 2024 pic.twitter.com/WfGIIyTvdz

— Jayant Sinha (Modi Ka Parivar) (@jayantsinha) May 22, 2024

Jayant Sinha, who in March had announced that he wouldn’t contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, also said that he had requested BJP national president JP Nadda to relieve him from his “direct electoral duties”.

“I withdrew from the Lok Sabha elections on March 2. After consulting with Shri Nadda ji and getting his explicit approval, I made it clear publicly that I was not going to be involved in these elections. I am happy to support the party on economic and governance policies and have continued to do so,” the two-term MP told Mr Sahu.

Mr Sinha also said that on April 30, he received a call from Mr Jaiswal inviting him to his nomination rally on May 1, but he couldn’t attend “due to the late notice”

“I traveled to Hazaribagh on May 2 and went directly to Shri Jaiswal ji’s residence to express my regards. He was not present, so I conveyed my message to his family,” he said.

Mr Sinha, who has been associated with the BJP for over 25 years, also stated that his “development and organizational work in Hazaribagh have been appreciated widely”, that also reflected in his “record” victories in the 2014 and 2019 general elections.

“Given my contributions to the party and the circumstances detailed above, the public issuance of your letter is unseemly. Your approach demoralizes dedicated party workers and undermines the party’s collective efforts. Additionally, despite my loyalty and hard work for the party, it appears that I am being unjustly targeted,” he told Mr Sahu.

“We could have certainly spoken in person or on the phone at any time to address any of your misgivings. As the party official responsible for the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha elections, you could have reached me at any time. To send me a letter after the elections are over is incomprehensible,” he said.

New Delhi:

The BJP has taken action against former Union Minister and MP Jayant Sinha after he allegedly failed to cast his vote today. The party has issued a show-cause notice against him, claiming he has not been taking part in “organisational work and election campaigning” ever since Manish Jaiswal was declared a candidate from the Hazaribagh seat in Jharkhand. Mr Sinha, who in March expressed his desire not to contest the Lok Sabha polls, is the sitting MP from the high-profile seat.

“You are not taking any interest in organisational work and election campaigning ever since the party declared Manish Jaiswal as the candidate from the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat. You did not even feel the need to exercise your vote. The party’s image has been maligned because of your conduct,” BJP state general secretary Aditya Sahu said in a notice.

The party has asked Mr Sinha to explain his stand within two days. The 61-year-old is yet to respond to the notice.

On March 2, Mr Sinha, in a post on X, requested BJP chief JP Nadda to “relieve me of my direct electoral duties”. He said he wanted to focus his “efforts on combating global climate change in Bharat and around the world”. Hours later, the BJP announced Mr Jaiswal as its candidate from the urban constituency in Jharkhand, which was once represented by Yashwant Sinha and later his son, Jayant Sinha.

Another MP who made an identical post was Gautam Gambhir, who said that he wanted to be relieved of his political duties to focus on his “upcoming cricket commitments”.

The BJP has fielded Harsh Malhotra from the east Delhi constituency, replacing its incumbent MP Gambhir.

The election machinery of the BJP, which has conducted extensive surveys and held long deliberations on every Lok Sabha seat decided not to repeat Gautam Gambhir and Jayant Sinha, sources had told NDTV.

Mr Sinha had won the seat by a margin of 4.79 lakh votes, defeating Congress’s Gopal Sahu in 2019.

Polling was held in three constituencies in Jharkhand’s second round of Lok Sabha constituencies today. In the Gandey assembly by-poll where jailed former chief minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren is the JMM contestant, 68.26 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise.

Hazaribagh registered the highest voter turnout of 64.32 per cent, followed by Chatra (62.96 per cent) and Koderma (61.86 per cent).

New Delhi:

In Indian politics, where there is intense competition for tickets from any party that has a chance of winning, sitting MPs declaring that they do not want to contest again is rare. So, when two BJP MPs said – within hours of each other – today that they would like to be “relieved” of their political duties, it took many by surprise.

Sources have told NDTV, however, that the well-oiled election machinery of the BJP, which has conducted extensive surveys and held long deliberations on every Lok Sabha seat, had already decided not to repeat Gautam Gambhir and Jayant Sinha. 

In a post on X around 10 am today, Gautam Gambhir, the BJP MP from East Delhi, said, “I have requested Hon’ble Party President @JPNadda ji to relieve me of my political duties so that I can focus on my upcoming cricket commitments.”

Less than five hours later, Jayant Sinha, who represents Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh in the Lok Sabha, made a nearly identical post. “I have requested Hon’ble Party President Shri @JPNadda
 ji to relieve me of my direct electoral duties so that I can focus my efforts on combating global climate change in Bharat and around the world,” he posted on X.

Both leaders also thanked the party’s leadership, including PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, for the opportunities provided to them.

Gautam Gambhir is a first-time MP, while Jayant Sinha, son of former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha had been elected from Hazaribagh twice in a row. Sources indicated that both MPs were not very popular in their constituencies and the BJP, which has set itself a target of winning a mammoth 370 seats, had decided not to repeat them.

“In Delhi, where the party had won all seven Lok Sabha seats in 2019, the party is looking for new faces,” said a source. 

The decision followed a lengthy, detailed process, which included getting feedback from the people in every constituency, conducting internal evaluations, and hiring survey agencies to file comprehensive reports. These were followed by deliberations by the state leadership and the national brass. 

Sources said the national leadership had made it clear that the MPs whose performance was not up to the mark would not be repeated and that at least 60 incumbent MPs could face this fate. 

On Thursday night, a five-hour meeting had been held in New Delhi, which was chaired by Prime Minister Modi and attended by Mr Shah and Mr Nadda, among others. The meeting, which began at 11 pm and ended at 4 am, had also focused on constituencies that the party hadn’t done well in. The idea was to announce the names of the candidates even before the poll dates are out, so that they get enough time to reach out to the voters in their respective candidates. 

The first list of the candidates is expected to be released later today.