'Amit Shah should quit BJP president's post; a UP leader more suited'

DHAR: Noted Hindi poet and former BJP MP Ompal Singh Nidar today said BJP president Amit Shah should resign from the post in the wake of the party's Bihar poll debacle and a politician from Uttar Pradesh, the state with the largest number of LS seats, should replace him.

"UP has the largest number of Lok Sabha seats. So the party should have president from that state," Nidar told PTI here, when asked about BJP's prospects in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

"If the bridle of the party is given to a UP person, the move would benefit the BJP across the country abundantly, given that UPites were living throughout the length and breadth of the country," he said.

"Taking moral responsibility for the party debacle in Bihar, Amit Shah should resign from the BJP president post. We lost Delhi, then Bihar Assembly, but Shah continues to stick to his chair. Is he waiting for the third defeat to resign from his post?" he quipped.

"If the Prime Minister needs him (Shah) so desperately, he should make him his advisor," he further said.

About BJP's defeat in Bihar, he said that it was the result of three factors.

"Firstly, it was due to the organisation's election mismanagement. Secondly, two-thirds of the candidates didn't contact the electorate, hoping that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pull off a victory for them."

"Lastly, casteism prevailed over Hindutva," Nidar, who was here to take part in a Kavi Sammelan, said.