MP polls: BJP leader Sartaj Singh weeps after not figuring in 3rd list

Bhopal: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Sartaj Singh on Thursday wept openly after his name did not figure in the third list of party’s candidates for the November 28 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls. Singh (77) is a two-time MLA from Seoni-Malwa seat in the state’s Hoshangabad district.

The BJP on Thursday released its third list of 32 candidates, leaving only six seats, in the 230-member MP House, for which no names have been declared so far.

These are Seoni-Malwa, from which Singh is a sitting MLA, Panna, Lakhnadoun, Bhopal North, Mahidpur and Garoth.

Sitting among his supporters, the Sikh leader tried to conceal his tears by covering his face for a few moments.

According to a supporter of Singh, the BJP has told the veteran MLA that he would not be nominated from Seoni-Malwa.

Singh was earlier dropped as MP PWD minister along with state Home minister Babulal Gaur in June 2016 reportedly due to old age.

Asked for a comment on Singh’s teary reaction after the announcement of the party’s third list, MP BJP spokesperson Anil Soumitra said it was “unbecoming” on the part of the former.

Meanwhile, the Congress took a dig at the BJP and said that the latter had a habit of treating senior leaders in such a manner.

MP Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta claimed that the BJP had “no respect” for elders and gave the example of party patriarch LK Advani.