Haryana minister Ranjit Singh Chautala resigned from the Cabinet on Thursday after he was denied a ticket by the BJP for the upcoming Assembly election. Ranjit Chautala, the brother of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, was among the nine incumbent MLAs excluded from the BJP's first list of 67 candidates for the elections to the 90-member Assembly.
The former MLA from Rania constituency in Sirsa district has decided to contest the polls, to be held on October 5, as an independent. The results will be declared on October 8, along with that of the Jammu and Kashmir election.
Chautala had lobbied for contesting from the Rania seat but the BJP fielded Shishpal Kamboj instead. Chautala joined the BJP earlier this year ahead of the Lok Sabha election after resigning as an Independent MLA. He fought the Hisar parliamentary seat but was defeated by Congress's Jai Parkash.
However, Chautala continued as Power Minister as rules stipulate that a politician can remain a minister for six months without being a member of the Assembly of the state concerned.
The son of former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, Ranjit Chautala contested the 2019 Assembly election as an Independent candidate after allegedly being ignored by the Congress.
The development comes a day after the BJP released the first list of 67 candidates, fielding Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini from Ladwa, and Anil Vij from his bastion - Ambala Cantt. Saini is currently an MLA from Karnal.
