BJP MLA resigns from House panel to spread 'party etiquette' among workers

JAIPUR: Senior BJP MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari, who was allegedly manhandled by some party workers last week prompting him to announce a statewide 'Rath Yatra', today resigned from an assembly committee to focus on the year-long campaign to spread "ideology and principle of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay" among party activists.

Tiwari, who was chairman of the Library Committee for 2014-15, handed over the resignation letter to Speaker Kailash Meghwal in the Assembly, and then met V Satish, in-charge of party affairs in the state, in the BJP headquarters here.

"I will address public meetings in different parts of the state over a period of six months and will then take out 'Rath Yatra' in the next six months to disseminate principles among people and make workers learn party etiquette," he said today.

"I will not be able to do justice to the committee because of the campaign, so I resigned," the Sanganer MLA said, adding that he would begin the year-long campaign after the Bihar assembly elections.

Tiwari said he was "hurt" by the incident on October 2 but insisted he does not want action against any party worker or leader, and has also asked his supporters to not approach the party office to demand action against the guilty.

"I was questioned 'Who are you?' in the programme where some workers manhandled and fractured my hand. It remained calm because I did not want to make it an issue but I realised that they had no BJP ideology in them, no manners. So I decided to take out a 'Rath Yatra' to take the ideology and principles of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay to village level," Tiwari told his supporters at his MLA quarter here last night.

Tiwari was allegedly shoved and manhandled when he had went to attend a block-level party workers' training programme in Sanganer, along with his supporters, on October 2.

According to party sources, the Sanganer MLA was to address the concluding session of the training programme, but was denied entry to the venue allegedly by the members of a rival faction.