BJP instructs Jharkhand MLAs to abstain from voting in Rajya Sabha polls

New Delhi, Mar.21 (ANI): Senior central leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced that they had instructed all party MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) in Jharkhand to abstain from voting in polls for the Rajya Sabha.

BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar also condemned the comments of Independent candidate Anshuman Mishra against the central and senior leadership.

Mishra had said: "I think he (Yashwant Sinha) is nervous about young people with fresh, clean integrity coming in. Some leaders of the BJP are becoming restless over this. They cannot accept dynamism from someone who has worked for Hindu ideology in India and outside the country as well."

Kumar's broadside against Mishra and the party's decision not to vote came shortly after senior BJP leaders met in the national capital to resolve the dispute on Rajya Sabha nominations for Jharkhand.

Apart from Kumar, the other leaders present at the meeting were Leaders of Oppostion in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, and Rajya Sabha members from Jharkhand Yashwant Sinha and S.S. Ahluwalia.

Sinha had on Tuesday slammed the decision not to field a BJP member from Jharkhand. The party"s decision to support Anshuman Mishra, an NRI who had been principal secretary to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as an independent, for the seat, has several party leaders objecting to the step.

Sinha claimed on Tuesday that money was being to hike the Rajya Sabha membership selection process.

"A worker should have been nominated. MLAs should not be put on the auction block to the highest bidder. (LK) Advaniji has assured he would talk to party president when I raised the issue in parliamentary party meet. Outsiders should not be given ticket," Sinha told reporters.

"Appeal to all parties to reject people who use money power in Jharkhand. A local leader should have been nominated. BJP MLAs have signed nomination papers of A. Mishra. I"m pained by this," he added.

Swaraj, Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are among the key leaders who have opposed Mishra"s nomination.

"Mishra belongs to neither BJP nor Jharkhand," Sinha said.

The party also decided not to field its Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, S.S. Ahluwalia, who is a member from Jharkhand and is retiring on April 2.

Mishra reportedly has the support of party president Nitin Gadkari. (ANI)