Rajasthan Elections 2018: BJP MLA and ‘JNU condom counter’ Gyandev Ahuja ditched by party

BJP sitting MLA Gyandev Ahuja, who’d hit national headlines for claiming thousands of condoms were found in JNU at the height of the debate in 2016 has not been given a ticket.

Ahuja in the past has also supported mob lynching of cattle smugglers and had recently courted controversy by saying Nehru wasn’t a ‘Pandit’ because he ‘ate beef and pork’. He is currently a sitting MLA of Ramgarh (Alwar)

Shoot from mouth #BJP MLA #GyandevAhuja fails to get a ticket.
He had shot into controversy / notoriety by his statements against #JNU and in favour of #MobLynching of #CattleSmugglers @dna @BJP4India @BJP4Rajasthan @UmarKhalidJNU @kanhaiyakumar pic.twitter.com/5Ek96gVxux

— Sangeeta Pranvendra (@sangpran) November 14, 2018

Other MLAs who missed out are Rajkumari Jatav of Hindaun City who made communal statements after April 2 Bandh and Banwari Singhal, Alwary City MLA, who has a board at his office asking Meos (Muslims) not to come for any work was dropped in the 1^st list.

In 2016, Ahuja had said: “More than 10,000 butts of cigarettes and 4,000 pieces of beedis are found. 50,000 big and small pieces of bones are found. 2,000 wrappers of chips and namkeen are found, and so are 3,000 used condoms. They commit misdeeds with our sisters and daughters there. And 500 used contraceptive injections are also found."

He also alleged that "students are mostly found taking drugs after 8pm inside the campus. Those studying in JNU are not children, but parents of two children. They indulge in peace protests in the mornings and during the nights, they perform obscene dances."

The BJP MLA's comments came during a march in Alwar against JNU students.

Earlier this year, he made provocative remarks against Jawaharlal Nehru, saying the country's first prime minister was not a 'pandit' as he ate beef and pork.

He had claimed that cow slaughter ought to be treated like terrorists and had demanded that Hindu girls ‘lured by love jihad’ ought to be brought back.

The BJP Sunday announced its candidates for 131 of the 200 seats of the Rajasthan Assembly with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje being fielded from her traditional seat of Jhalrapatan.

The names were announced by senior party leader J P Nadda following a meeting of the BJP central election committee which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its president Amir Shah besides other top leaders.
 

Raje also attended the meeting.

The party has also fielded its Lok Sabha MP Sona Ram Choudhary in the assembly poll and given tickets to 12 women.

Party sources said about 25 sitting MLAs have been dropped and 85 incumbent legislators have been repeated.

"Party candidates for all the seats we're discussed in the meeting. Names of other nominees will be announced soon," Nadda told reporters.

The BJP is facing a strong challenge from a resurgent Congress in the state with the opposition party winning a number of by-polls in the last couple of years. A number of opinion polls has also given an edge to the Congress but the BJP has insisted that it will be able to repulse the opposition's challenge.

The saffron party under Raje had won a whopping 163 of the 200 assembly seats in the state in 2013, giving the Congress its worst ever drubbing at its hands.

The state has for the last two decades has seen the incumbent party losing the assembly polls. 

WIth inputs by Sangeeta Pranavendra