Deeply ‘hurt’ Subash Chouhan quits Odisha BJP

Bhubaneswar: Expressing displeasure over allotment of tickets, senior BJP leader Subash Chouhan today resigned from the saffron party. Chouhan was reportedly unhappy after he was denied ticket to contest from Bargarh Lok Sabha seat.

Though Chouhan had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 elections on BJP ticket, party workers and others believed that the saffron party would field him again as he had garnered over 3.72 lakh votes.

Chouhan lost to BJD’s Prabhas Kumar Singh in 2014 election by a narrow margin of 11,178 votes.

“I am hurt not because ticket was denied to me. But BJP is hijacked by one person while thousands of party workers who have toiled hard on the field are being neglected,” alleged Chouhan.

Chouhan further stated that “I had polled nearly 3.72 lakh votes in 2014 elections but unfortunately lost due to a conspiracy. Though the party workers had hoped that I would be given ticket this time, it did not happen due to another conspiracy. Several leaders who dedicated their entire life to strengthen the party were sidelined. It is really disheartening that a person who polled mere 12,000 votes is given a ticket.”

Earlier, Chouhan took to social media and vented his anger over denial of ticket. He wrote that following pressure from the people of Bargarh, BJP appointed him as the party’s state Vice President and also offered him ticket to contest from Bijepur Assembly Constituency against CM Naveen Patnaik. However, Chouhan refused the offer and instead advised Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to fight from Bijepur.