New Delhi: Former Rajya Sabha member Kripal Parmar Tuesday resigned as Himachal Pradesh BJP vice-president, dealing another setback to the ruling party close on the heels of its defeat in the 30 October bypolls.
The decision comes on the eve of the BJP’s state executive meeting, where the party is expected to conduct a review of its performance in the bypolls.
In his three-line resignation letter, Parmar alleged that nobody heeded his advice in the party, which was being “run like a dictatorship”. What was the point, asked Parmar in his letter, to remain vice-president when nobody listened to him.
The letter was addressed to state BJP president Suresh Kashyap.
Parmar wrote in a Facebook post: “I, Kripal Parmar, vice-president, Himachal BJP, am sending my resignation from the post… kindly accept it… I will explain the reason in a separate letter.”
Speaking to ThePrint, he claimed he had suffered harassment and humiliation in the BJP, adding that forces in the party had sought to undercut his efforts.
Reached for comment, state BJP president Kashyap said he had learnt about the resignation from social media. “I will discuss and look after his concerns when I receive his resignation,” he added.
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‘Honest, dedicated worker not valued’
Parmar told ThePrint that he was “humiliated for four years” in the BJP. “There is total dictatorship in the party. I complained to the chief minister, the party president and the core committee, but nobody gave any importance to my concerns. An honest, dedicated party worker is not valued,” he said.
“In 2017, they ensured my defeat by putting in a rebel candidate against me. This time, they gave the ticket to that same candidate, denying me the nomination. The party lobbied to isolate me,” he added.
Parmar was referring to the 2017 assembly election and the October bypolls for the Fatehpur seat.
The BJP denied Parmar a ticket from the seat this year and instead fielded Baldev Thakur.
In the 2017 assembly polls, the BJP had fielded Parmar from the seat, leading to a revolt by Thakur, who then fought as an Independent and garnered over 13,000 votes. It is largely due to his revolt that Parmar lost by a narrow margin of 1,200 votes to Congress leader Sujan Singh Pathania, whose death facilitated the bypoll.
Parmar continued, “A youth morcha secretary was encouraged to file a case against me involving frivolous charges, later he was promoted as vice-president in the morcha.”
“On 31 July, I was in charge of a government function to be attended by the chief minister (Jai Ram Thakur) in Kangra district, but the district magistrate and the Road Transport Office did not arrange for buses to bring in people for the rally. This was done so that, as party leader in the area, I could be blamed. I complained to the CM, but was ignored.”
“During the panchayat polls this year,” Parmar told ThePrint, “we won in the Fatehpur area, but the party establishment in its report to the PMO said that I did not work for the victory. It was a one-sided report… how much humiliation can I suffer?”
(Edited by Saikat Niyogi)
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