Due to differences with their Gujarat-based leadership, two Rajasthani Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) lawmakers plan to launch their own party. Due to the leadership’s interferences and disregard for the state executive, Rajkumar Roat and Ramprasad have become angry and upset.
The BTP ran 11 candidates, of whom two were successful in winning the Rajasthan elections in 2018.
“We have been actively working for the tribals for a long and through various social organisations since 2015…[before joining] BTP for the assembly polls, [we were] assured… that there will be no interference from Gujarat and that local leadership and the state executive will take the decisions…,” said Roat.
They suggested backing independent Thawarchand for the Dhariawad assembly byelection, he said, but the party nominated Ganesh Meena.
He said that the interference has increased to all levels and [we have] now decided to part ways and launch our own party [to] develop local leadership.
Ramprasad said they practically parted ways when their leadership issued a whip against supporting the ruling Congress. “There [has been] interference…in every matter…”
According to Velaram Ghoghra, the state president of BTP, this is a struggle for supremacy, and the parliamentarians and a few other officials are disobeying BTP’s national leadership. He claimed that all decisions, including those regarding the ballots for elections for rural entities, were made in conjunction with the MPs. Ghoghra referred to the attempt to found a new party as dishonest.
“The party issued them a number of notices but the lawmakers have not replied to them. I am writing to the party leadership for action against them,” he said.
