BJP, JDU didn't give ticket to Gupteshwar Pandey over question of campaigning: Anil Deshmukh

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said that BJP and JDU didn't give the ticket to Gupteshwar Pandey over fears whether the party leaders would campaign for him. Last month, Pandey had taken voluntary retirement and later joined Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party.

Mumbai:The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (United) might not have given an election ticket to the former Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey over fears whether the party leaders would campaign for him, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Thursday.

"Giving an election ticket to Gupteshwar Pandey is a matter of the party. We had asked whether the BJP leaders will campaign for him in the Bihar assembly elections. Maybe it was due to the fear of this question that he was not given a ticket," Deshmukh told reporters here.

Last month, Pandey had taken voluntary retirement and later joined Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party. However, he was denied an assembly ticket to contest in the upcoming assembly polls.

The JD(U) yesterday released its list of 115 candidates who will contest the assembly elections in Bihar scheduled to start from October 28. The name of Gupteshwar Pandey was missing from the list.

"Everyone expected that I will contest the election but I am not contesting assembly elections this time. There's no such thing as being frustrated. Be patient. My life has been spent in the struggle. I will be serving the public all my life," Pandey said in a Facebook post later.

The BJP and JD(U) alliance in the state has agreed upon sharing 121-122 seats in the Bihar assembly polls respectively.

Elections to the 243-seat Bihar assembly will be held in three phases--October 28, November 3, and 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10. (ANI)