Two days after the BJP denied a ticket to Yunus Khan, considered a close confidant of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the former Rajasthan cabinet minister said on Saturday said he was resigning from the party. He also announced to contest the upcoming Assembly elections as an independent from Deedwana constituency, a seat from where he was elected twice as MLA. Khan took the decision after holding a massive rally in Deedwana on Saturday where his supporters urged him to contest the elections. Earlier this week, the BJP had announced the name of Jitendra Singh Jodha as the candidate from Deedwana. Jodha was also the BJP candidate in the 2018 Assembly elections but lost to Congress’s Chetan Dudi. Back in 2018, Khan was fielded by the BJP against Congress leader Sachin Pilot from the Tonk constituency which he lost by a huge margin. “I will send my resignation to the appropriate authority in the party so that I cannot be expelled later. I am not leaving alone but leaving with thousands of workers. My request to them is to accept it. It is my duty to respect the public feeling. I had come here to ask the public who told me to contest the elections. Since the party (BJP) has already named a candidate, so I have no other option than to leave the party and fight as independent. I will file my nominations on November 6,” Khan told reporters after the rally. Khan said several parties have approached him but he has decided to contest the elections as an independent. “The BJP has given around 25 tickets to such people who have done the job of defeating the party itself. The kind of environment that is prevailing in the party (right now) which was established by Deen Dayal Upadhyay ji, Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, Advani ji, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat ji, I feel sad by it. I still like that ideology. I feel that several decisions have been taken by the party in hurry,” said Khan. Khan added that the party gave chance to leaders who opposed Raje to join the BJP. Khan has been an MLA from Deedwana in 2003 and 2013, having started his political career in the BJP under the tutelage of former chief minister of Rajasthan and Vice President of India Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. During his time as minister, Khan held important portfolios in Raje’s governments such as transport and PWD, and was often regarded as the number two in the government. In recent years, despite enjoying significant support among Muslims, Jats and Rajputs in Deedwana, Khan has been increasingly sidelined in the BJP, which has lately not been fielding Muslim candidates for the elections. Khan was the only Muslim candidate of the BJP in 2018, when after holding his ticket for days, the party finally fielded him from Tonk, a constituency with which he had no past ties against Pilot. The BJP has so far not fielded any Muslim candidate for the November 25 elections.
