Ex-MP quits BJP, to contest as independent

Patna, March 24 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and four-time Bihar MP Lal Muni Choubey Monday announced that he has quit the party and will contest as an independent from Buxar.

Lal Muni Choubey was upset after he was denied a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls. BJP fielded another leader Ashwini Kumar Chaubey who was health minister in the Nitish Kumar government and hails from Bhagalpur.

"I have resigned from the BJP and am announcing here that I will contest as an independent from Buxar," Choubey, who was considered close to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said at a press conference here.

Choubey's announcement came on a day when another senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh filed his nomination from Rajasthan's Barmer seat as an independent candidate.

Choubey said that he will also campaign against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi who is contesting from Varanasi.

"I will visit Varanasi to campaign against Modi," he said.

He said that he was hurt by the way the BJP is treating its stalwarts like Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh.

"I cannot tolerate humiliation to Vajpayee, Advani and Jaswant in the party," he said.

Choubey reiterated that top BJP leaders have been neglected by the party and said that Vajpayee is being treated like a living dead while Advani and Jaswant have been ignored.

Choubey added he was having no ties with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). "I was never a member of RSS and have nothing to do with it," he said.

Chaubey was elected for the first time from Buxar parliamentary constituency in 1996. He represented the seat continuously till 2009 when he lost to RJD leader Jagadanand Singh by 2,000 votes.