PATNA: Sulking over denial of ticket for Lok Sabha election, BJP MP Ajay Nishad on Tuesday joined Congress and is likely to contest election from Muzaffarpur on the party ticket.
Nishad joined the party in the presence of senior Congress leader Pawan Khera, AICC In charge of Bihar, Mohan Prakash and state Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh in New Delhi.
Prakash contended that Nishad joined Congress without putting any conditions. After joining Congress, he commented in 'X, "Today I have accepted membership of the Congress. If there is an order from the high command, I will go to the people's court."
Earlier, he posted a comment in ‘X’, “Respected Nadda Ji (BJP president J P Nadda), shocked by the betrayal of BJP, I resign from all posts and primary membership of the party.”
BJP replaced Ajay Nishad with Rajbhushan Nishad in the fifth list of candidates released by the party.
Nishad had won Lok Sabha election from Muzaffarpur on BJP ticket in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. His father, former union minister Captain Jai Narayan Nishad had also represented Muzaffarpur seat four times.
Besides Nishad, BJP has dropped two more sitting MPs, union minister Ashwani Choubey and Chhedi Paswan.
While BJP leadership succeeded in assuaging the ruffled feelings of Choubey, Chhedi reportedly continues to be unhappy with BJP leadership over the denial of ticket.
Nishad was denied the ticket after adverse feedback against him. His supporters held a protest during Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai's recent visit to Muzaffarpur, holding him responsible for denial of ticket to their leader.
On the other hand, the BJP-led NDA has allotted the ticket to Raj Bhushan Nishad, who had contested previous Lok Sabha elections as a VIP candidate. He was defeated by Ajay Nishad, who is denied ticket this time following an internal survey conducted by the saffron party.