JAIPUR: Gyandev Ahuja, former
BJP MLA and repeat offender who embarrassed the party on more than one occasion, was sacked by the BJP on Sunday after he was found guilty of violating party discipline by the disciplinary committee.
This follows Ahuja's latest controversial actions on April 7, when he purified a temple in Alwar after Leader of Opposition and
Congress' Dalit face in the state, Tikaram Jully, visited it. Ahuja's actions triggered widespread outrage and left the BJP red-faced.
While Ahuja was suspended from the party days after the incident, his expulsion from the party comes on the eve of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's ‘Save the Constitution' rally in Jaipur, in which both Kharge and Jully would have likely pointed to BJP's "discriminatory practises".
Earlier this month, both Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, had raised the issue of Jully's humiliation at the hands of Ahuja during the AICC's Ahmedabad convention.
Ahuja was served a show-cause notice and suspended from the party's primary membership on April 8. He was also directed to submit a written explanation in three days to party chief Madan Rathore.
‘His actions damaged the party’s image’He had earlier stoked controversy by referring to Dalits as "demonic", backed cow vigilantism, and made derogatory comments about Jawaharlal Nehru University.
"He (Ahuja) was found guilty of breaching several provisions of the party's constitution and failed to provide a satisfactory defence to state president Madan Rathore. His actions damaged the party's image among sections of its supporters, and his continued association with the party would contradict its values and rules," a member of the disciplinary committee told TOI.
Several BJP leaders had privately expressed their displeasure over Ahuja's conduct, calling his actions "deeply damaging" to the party's image, especially among Scheduled Castes.