Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Veteran BJP leader Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat, who is reportedly sulking as the party is reluctant to give him a ticket for the upcoming Assembly polls, said here on Friday that he never spoke of quitting the party and also that former Chief Minister Kamal Nath had not contacted him to join the Congress party.
Shekhawat said this after Indore Development Authority chairman Jaipal Singh Chavda and BJP city chief Gaurav Ranadive called upon the seasoned leader on the day Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist Samadar Patel returned to Congress in Bhopal.
“I have never said that I am quitting BJP. Nor has Kamal Nath contacted me about joining Congress. So, the question of my crossing over to the opposition party does not arise … as of now,” he told reporters.
He, however, stated that he wished to contest upcoming Assembly polls. “I have conveyed to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan my desire to contest the election from either Badnawar, Badnagar or Depalpur. I hope the party gives the ticket to me from any of the three seats,” the two-time MLA stated.
When asked what he would do if he was denied a ticket by BJP, he said that he has kept all options open. “If my wish is not considered then I have no other choice but to keep all options open,” he said without denying the possibility of him crossing over to Congress.
Shekhawat had lost the last election against the then Congress candidate Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon from Badnawar in 2018. Later, Dattigaon resigned and crossed over to BJP. In the 2020 by-poll, Dattigaon contested the elections and won.
He is going to get a ticket for sure from Badnawar again. This spoils Shekhawat’s equations.
