Khatauli Assembly bypoll: Miffed RLD leader Abhishek Chaudhary Gurjar joins BJP after being denied ticket

Abhishek Chaudhary Gurjar, who was the Rashtriya Lok Dal's national spokesperson, joined the BJP at the residence of UP BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary.

Lucknow: Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Abhishek Chaudhary Gurjar, who was eying the party ticket from Khatauli seat in the assembly bypoll, joined the BJP on Tuesday. Gurjar, who was the RLD's national spokesperson, joined the BJP at the residence of state BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary here.

Sources said Gurjar was upset with the RLD leadership which gave a ticket to former MLA Madan Bhaiya for the Khatauli seat.

माननीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी एवं मुख्यमंत्री श्री @myogiadityanath जी के यशस्वी नेतृत्व व @BJP4India की नीतियों से प्रभावित राष्ट्रीय लोक दल के प्रदेश निकाय चुनाव प्रभारी एवं पूर्व प्रदेश प्रवक्ता श्री अभिषेक चौधरी गुर्जर जी को आज भाजपा की सदस्यता ग्रहण कराई। pic.twitter.com/xvdHhpxm1G — Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary (@Bhupendraupbjp) November 15, 2022

The election was necessitated after BJP MLA Vikram Saini was convicted and sentenced by a special court in connection with a case related to the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013.

In the Assembly election held earlier this year, Vikram Saini had defeated the RLD's Rajpal Saini by 16,345 votes.

Madan Bhaiya had fought the last Assembly poll on an RLD ticket from Loni in Ghaziabad but lost to the BJP's sitting MLA Nand Kishore Gurjar.

The BJP has named Rajkumari Saini, wife of Vikram Saini from the Khatauli seat.

BJP state president Chaudhary said his party would be strengthened with the joining of the RLD leader.