Haryana assembly polls: Ticket denied, BJP rebel Zile Ram files papers as Independent from Assandh

A day after being denied a ticket from the Assandh seat of Karnal, former chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) and ex-MLA from the seat Zile Ram Sharma filed his nominations as an Independent candidate on Wednesday.

Since the saffron party released its first list of candidates on September 4, more than 40 party leaders, including a cabinet minister, ex-MPs, sitting MLAs and former legislators have resigned from the party, but very few of them have filed nominations so far.

Soon after the BJP released its second list and fielded Karnal district president Yogender Rana on Tuesday, Zile Ram decided to quit the party and called a meeting at his office to discuss the next course of action.

Ahead of filing papers, the ex-MLA said his supporters have decided to elect him as a response to the BJP for insulting him.

“After I decided to quit the party, former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar called me. I refused to step back and said my supporters will decide. Now, they have done so and I’m confident of my victory,” he added.

On Wednesday, his opponent from the Congress and sitting MLA Shamsher Singh Gogi also filed his papers, while BJP’s Rana will be doing so on Thursday, which is the last day of filing nominations.

In January this year, Zile Ram was acquitted in the abetment to a suicide case of an ex-sarpanch by a special CBI court in Panchkula. When the allegations surfaced, he as CPS and the other accused, transport minister OP Jain, had to resign from their posts.

He had activated his political activities after the court’s ruling and started campaigning, expecting a Congress ticket and had even announced to contest as independent in the assembly elections, if no party offers him a ticket.

But two months later, he joined the BJP in Karnal under former CM Khattar in the presence of scores of his supporters. He was elected on former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) (BL) ticket in 2009 and had switched sides to join the Congress after which he was appointed CPS in 2011 by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

In the 2014 assembly elections, he had unsuccessfully contested from Assandh seat as an Independent after quitting the Congress. On the same seat, ex-MLA Bakshish Singh Virk was also upset after being denied a ticket and called a meeting, after which he decided to support Rana.

Similarly, party rebels Renu Bala Gupta and Karan Dev Kamboj are also yet to take a call on contesting from Karnal and Indri seats, respectively.

In the neighbouring seat of Guhla in Kaithal, Congress leader Dilu Ram filed papers as a party candidate, even as they are yet to name him.

Similarly, on the Jagadhari seat of Yamunanagar, former deputy speaker and Congress leader Akram Khan’s daughter Afshan Khan, 28, filed as an Independent.