Some BJP candidates enlist Sanjay Joshi to help out in Bihar

NEW DELHI: Some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates have asked estranged leader Sanjay Joshi to campaign for them. A former general secretary of the BJP, Joshi, was forced out of the party's leadership team three years ago.

Joshi confirmed to ET that he was campaigning for some candidates in Bihar following their personal request because they were feeling jittery.

"It is a tough fight," Joshi said. "The BJP started campaigning on the development issue but later they were forced to respond to Nitish Kumar and Lalu distorting comments on reservation." a BJP spokesperson said Joshi was not officially invited by the party.

He has already camped in Sasaram, Patna, Nalanda, Siwan, Muzzafarpur, Madhubani and some other places to bolster the campaign with his organizational skills. He said the RSS had been doing a lot of work in the state but the situation is different from 2014 when there was a rush to change the regime. "It all depends on where the Dalits place their votes," Joshi said as he prepared to leave for Seemanchal or North-East Bihar.

Joshi, regarded as an astute organization man with an ability to get the best out of workers, has been out in the cold since the BJP's Mumbai conclave in 2012 where he was forced to resign from the party's national executive. He had also resigned as general secretary of the party within a fortnight of that meeting.

(With inputs from Vasudha Venugopal)