BJP’s MP from Delhi Udit Raj on Tuesday dropped the prefix Chowkidar from his official Twitter handle after being denied a Lok Sabh seat. His Twitter handle read his name without the Chowkidar prefix, which has become the hallmark of anyone supporting the BJP.
This was followed by a threat from the lawmaker, who has also threatened to quit the party if the BJP did not field him as a Lok Sabha candidate. He wrote, “I am waiting for ticket if not given to me I will do good bye to party.”
I am waiting for ticket if not given to me I will do good bye to party
— Dr. Udit Raj, MP (@Dr_Uditraj) April 23, 2019
But soon he brought the prefix back claiming that he had no clue how this was removed from his name. Earlier, Raj had said that he remained hopeful he will file the nomination from his constituency as a BJP candidate since he had proved his mettle as an MP. “I hope I will not be forced to leave BJP by BJP itself,” he had added.
In an extraordinary public outburst on Monday, Raj had tagged BJP President Amit Shah on the microblogging site alleging that his repeated attempts to reach out to him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were futile. Raj had added that his party colleague and MP Manoj Tiwari had assured him a ticket for the 2019 elections.
@AmitShah जी आपसे कई बार बात करने की कोशिश की sms भी भेजा एवं प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी से भी बात करने की कोशिश की @ManojTiwariMP जी लगातार कहते रहे है कि टिकट मेरा ही होगा,@nsitharaman जी से भी कोशिश की लेकिन बात नही हो सकी & @arunjaitley जी से भी आग्रह किया ।
— Dr. Udit Raj, MP (@Dr_Uditraj) April 22, 2019
Unaffected by his threats, the BJP on Tuesday announced singer Hans Raj Hans as its candidate from North West Delhi in place of Raj.
The BJP announced the names of former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir and sitting Meenakshi Lekhi from East Delhi and New Delhi constituencies respectively. The saffron party has also fielded Union Minister Harshwardhan from Chandni Chowk, Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi, Pravesh Verma from West Delhi and Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi.
Raj had won the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from North West Delhi parliamentary seat by a margin of over one lakh votes.