Rajasthan Elections 2018: BJP expels 11 rebel leaders from primary membership of party

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday expelled 11 of its rebel leaders from the primary membership of the party for six years on the charges of contesting against the in-house candidates in the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly Election 2018, according to a statement released by state BJP president Madan Lal Saini. Those expelled leaders include Surendra Goyal, Laxmi Narayan Dave, Radheshyam Ganganagar, Hem Singh Bhadana, Rajkumar Rinwa, Rameshwar Bhati, Kuldeep Dhankhar, Deendayal Kumawat, Kishna Ram Nai, Dhan Singh Rawat and Anita Katara.

"11 rebel leaders of Rajasthan BJP have been expelled from the primary membership of the party for 6 years for contesting against the official party candidates in the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly Election 2018," the news agency ANI reported.

11 rebel leaders of Rajasthan BJP have been expelled from the primary membership of the party for 6 years for contesting against the official party candidates in the upcoming #RajasthanAssemblyElection2018. pic.twitter.com/e4SWHAmkkd

— ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2018

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Earlier in the day, in a dramatic turn of event, BJP dissident Gyandev Ahuja, who had filed nomination as independent after being denied a ticket, took back his nomination. Gyan Deo has now been appointed as BJP's vice president in Rajasthan. The 63-year-old politician had announced his resignation from the party earlier this week.

BJP MLA Gyandev Ahuja who had filed nomination as independent after being denied a ticket by the party, has taken back his nomination. He has now been appointed BJP's state vice president. #RajasthanElection2018 (file pic) pic.twitter.com/N2lp5EBCbp

— ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2018

According to the chief electoral officer, 579 candidates have withdrawn their nominations so far and the figure is likely to be raised further. Bhawani Singh Rajawat is also one of the prominent leaders who withdrew his nomination for the upcoming Rajasthan polls on Thursday. Till November 19, 3,293 candidates had filed 4,285 nominations, of which 612 nominations were rejected.

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Polling in Rajasthan will be held on December 7, 2018. Over 2,000 candidates are in the race for the December 7 elections across the state. The counting of votes will be taken up across five poll-bound states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Telangana on December 11, 2018.