‘Unjustly Targeted By BJP’: Jayant Sinha On Party’s Show-Cause Notice

The friction between Lok Sabha MP Jayant Sinha and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit in Jharkhand has intensified, with the former lashing out at the party for “unjustly targeting him”.

A few days ago, the BJP state unit issued a show cause notice to Sinha, pointing out that he had not only distanced himself from the party’s campaign, but also failed to cast his vote in the ongoing parliamentary elections.

A lawmaker from Hazaribagh and a former Union minister, Sinha has responded to notice, alleging that the party did not invite him to be part of the election campaign.

In a two-page letter to the party, Sinha refuted the allegations against him and pointed out that he cast his vote through the postal ballot as he was travelling abroad for personal work.

“…Before leaving India, I sent my vote through the postal ballot process. Therefore, it is wrong of you to allege that I did not exercise my responsibility to vote,” Sinha said in his defense.

Ahead of the announcement of the 2024 general elections, Sinha had tweeted that he had written to party president JP Nadda to excuse him from the electoral exercise, and that he was not keen on contesting the polls.

Sinha, whose father Yashwant Sinha was a former Union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpeyee cabinet, made a reference to his letter dated March 2, where he communicated his decision to step back from electoral responsibilities “to focus on combating issues arising from global climate change”.

He said he wanted to be relieved of direct electoral duties so that he can focus on combating global climate change in India and around the world.

“Of course, I will continue to work with the party on economic and governance issues. I have had the privilege of serving the people of Bharat and Hazaribagh for the past 10 years. Moreover, I have been blessed by the many opportunities provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the BJP leadership. My sincerest gratitude to all of them,” he said in response to the show cause notice.

Sinha claims his withdrawal from the contest had a “profound” reaction from thousands of Hazaribagh’s constituents and party workers but he “maintained political decorum and exercised restraint”.

He pointed out that he supported the candidature of Manish Jaiswal but was not contacted by the party for any electoral work.

“…However, not a single senior party official or MP/MLA from Jharkhand reached out to me after my announcement on 2 March 2024. I was not invited to any party events, rallies, or organisational meetings. If Babu Lal Marandi ji wanted me to participate, he could have certainly called me, but he did not,” the two-time MP said in his defence.

A few weeks ago, Sinha was caught in the crosshairs of the party after the Congress claimed his son Aarish had joined the opposition camp. Sinha was quick to deny the claim.

Meanwhile, Yashwant Sinha had an acrimonious fall out with the BJP in 2014 when he was not given a ticket. He has since joined the Trinamool Congress.