Review Sonepat ticket decision: BJP’s Kavita Jain

Former Cabinet minister Kavita Jain has said late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee used to say that politics should be for principles, not power.

The BJP grew from two MPs to 303 due to its ideology and principles. However, some people were killing its ideology, she added.

Jain was addressing a gathering of her supporters at a banquet hall on Murthal Road here on Sunday.

She gave the party two more days to take a decision about changing the Sonepat ticket, and said a committee of 21 members would be formed to decide the course of action up to September 10.

Taking a dig at the party high command without naming any leader, Jain said, in 2019, the duo of the now sitting Congress MLA and Nikhil Madaan — who was part of the Congress at the time and is the current Mayor — had defeated her and Rajiv Jain, a duo that had been serving the public for 38 years. The party high command did not see the Mayor’s “cleverness”, she said.

If the party had given tickets to Lalit Batra, Tarun Devidas, Anil Thakkar or Yogesh Pal Arora instead, she would have no problem, she added.

“However, as a part of a conspiracy, an attempt was made to destroy our politics, for which the people of Sonepat are ready to answer,” she said.

Rajiv Jain, Kavita’s husband and former media advisor to the Chief Minister, said they never wished for a ticket after joining the BJP. On the contrary, he had advocated for Lalit Batra and Tarun Devidas in 2009. However, after their refusal, Kavita contested the election.

“In Old Rohtak, the Congress won 12 seats but the lotus bloomed only on the Sonepat seat,” he added.

Jain said they always remained among the people, even after losing the 2019 elections, and worked as disciplined soldiers of the party.

Jain added, “The senior party leaders called the Mayor a ‘speculator’ and a ‘hawala trader’ during the corporation elections. They can seek votes for him by killing their conscience today, but we cannot do so.”

“We don’t want to leave the party. For us, the party comes first. If we were greedy for the ticket, we would have resigned the same day like other leaders. However, we want to fight the battle of ideology while staying within the party,” he said.

“The party high command should take a decision by September 10, otherwise they would move forward with the 21 members committee’s decision,” Jain added.