New Delhi:

Former Union Minister and MP Jayant Sinha on Wednesday said that he was “surprised” to receive the BJP’s show cause notice asking him why he didn’t vote in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections and did not take part in election campaigning.

In response to BJP’s Jharkhand general secretary Aditya Sahu’s letter, Mr Sinha said that he voted through the postal ballot process as he was overseas for “personal commitments”. 

“I was very surprised to receive your letter and discover that you have released it to the media as well,” Mr Sinha, who is the sitting MP from the Hazaribagh seat in Jharkhand, said in a two-page letter to Mr Sahu.

Responding to Mr Sahu’s charge that he has not been taking part in “organisational work and election campaigning” ever since Manish Jaiswal was declared a candidate from the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat, Mr Sinha said that he was not invited for “any party events, rallies or organizational meetings”.

“The party announced Shri Manish Jaiswal ji as its candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. My endorsement was evident when I congratulated Shri Jaiswal ji on March 8, 2024, an event that was well-documented on social media and demonstrated my unwavering support for the party’s choice,” he said.

“If the part wanted me to participate in any election activities, you could surely have contacted me. However, not a single senior party official or MP/MLA from Jharkhand reached out to me. I was not invited to any party events, rallies, or organizational meetings,” he said.

My response to Shri Aditya Sahu ji’s letter sent on May 20, 2024 pic.twitter.com/WfGIIyTvdz

— Jayant Sinha (Modi Ka Parivar) (@jayantsinha) May 22, 2024

Jayant Sinha, who in March had announced that he wouldn’t contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, also said that he had requested BJP national president JP Nadda to relieve him from his “direct electoral duties”.

“I withdrew from the Lok Sabha elections on March 2. After consulting with Shri Nadda ji and getting his explicit approval, I made it clear publicly that I was not going to be involved in these elections. I am happy to support the party on economic and governance policies and have continued to do so,” the two-term MP told Mr Sahu.

Mr Sinha also said that on April 30, he received a call from Mr Jaiswal inviting him to his nomination rally on May 1, but he couldn’t attend “due to the late notice”

“I traveled to Hazaribagh on May 2 and went directly to Shri Jaiswal ji’s residence to express my regards. He was not present, so I conveyed my message to his family,” he said.

Mr Sinha, who has been associated with the BJP for over 25 years, also stated that his “development and organizational work in Hazaribagh have been appreciated widely”, that also reflected in his “record” victories in the 2014 and 2019 general elections.

“Given my contributions to the party and the circumstances detailed above, the public issuance of your letter is unseemly. Your approach demoralizes dedicated party workers and undermines the party’s collective efforts. Additionally, despite my loyalty and hard work for the party, it appears that I am being unjustly targeted,” he told Mr Sahu.

“We could have certainly spoken in person or on the phone at any time to address any of your misgivings. As the party official responsible for the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha elections, you could have reached me at any time. To send me a letter after the elections are over is incomprehensible,” he said.

New Delhi:

The BJP has taken action against former Union Minister and MP Jayant Sinha after he allegedly failed to cast his vote today. The party has issued a show-cause notice against him, claiming he has not been taking part in “organisational work and election campaigning” ever since Manish Jaiswal was declared a candidate from the Hazaribagh seat in Jharkhand. Mr Sinha, who in March expressed his desire not to contest the Lok Sabha polls, is the sitting MP from the high-profile seat.

“You are not taking any interest in organisational work and election campaigning ever since the party declared Manish Jaiswal as the candidate from the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat. You did not even feel the need to exercise your vote. The party’s image has been maligned because of your conduct,” BJP state general secretary Aditya Sahu said in a notice.

The party has asked Mr Sinha to explain his stand within two days. The 61-year-old is yet to respond to the notice.

On March 2, Mr Sinha, in a post on X, requested BJP chief JP Nadda to “relieve me of my direct electoral duties”. He said he wanted to focus his “efforts on combating global climate change in Bharat and around the world”. Hours later, the BJP announced Mr Jaiswal as its candidate from the urban constituency in Jharkhand, which was once represented by Yashwant Sinha and later his son, Jayant Sinha.

Another MP who made an identical post was Gautam Gambhir, who said that he wanted to be relieved of his political duties to focus on his “upcoming cricket commitments”.

The BJP has fielded Harsh Malhotra from the east Delhi constituency, replacing its incumbent MP Gambhir.

The election machinery of the BJP, which has conducted extensive surveys and held long deliberations on every Lok Sabha seat decided not to repeat Gautam Gambhir and Jayant Sinha, sources had told NDTV.

Mr Sinha had won the seat by a margin of 4.79 lakh votes, defeating Congress’s Gopal Sahu in 2019.

Polling was held in three constituencies in Jharkhand’s second round of Lok Sabha constituencies today. In the Gandey assembly by-poll where jailed former chief minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren is the JMM contestant, 68.26 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise.

Hazaribagh registered the highest voter turnout of 64.32 per cent, followed by Chatra (62.96 per cent) and Koderma (61.86 per cent).