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हिन्दी 
Days after being named the BJP candidate from Pehowa in Kurukshetra district, Kanwaljeet Singh Ajrana on Tuesday morning said that he would not contest the October 5 Haryana assembly elections as he was being termed an outsider by the local party unit and did not get support from the Sikh community either.
Sensing the dissent in the Pehowa unit, the BJP promptly replaced him with Jai Bhagwan Sharma, popularly known as DD Sharma, as its nominee as it released its second list of candidates for the elections on Tuesday afternoon.
A spokesperson of the Haryana Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (HSGMC), Ajrana was earlier fielded in place of former state minister Sandeep Singh, who is facing charges of sexual harassment.
Addressing the media at his Kurukshetra residence, Ajrana said that he was grateful that the BJP high command had nominated him earlier but he could not muster support of the local unit.
“We as ticket aspirants met at Delhi and Pehowa several times, where it was decided to support each other when the list would be out. But in the past few days, there has been anger and dissent directed against me, including from a sarpanch who threatened to resign. I felt humiliated when members of my own community, who were also among the aspirants, protested against my nomination,” he said.
The BJP leader said that at a Sikh Sammelan in Karnal on Sunday, the organisers demanded political representation of the community from mainstream parties. “But when I was named, they got envious. I never sought their support but they started a propaganda against me. I’m an Amritdhari Sikh and have been working for the community for 30 years, yet they defamed me. Considering all this, I wrote to the party high command on Monday night, withdrawing my name as a candidate. I was to file the nomination on Wednesday in the presence of Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal, minister Subhash Sudha and senior leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, but I was left with no other option,” he said.
Following his letter, Ajrana said that senior party leaders reached out to him, but he was firm on his stand. He clarified that he is still with the BJP and will support any candidate that the party nominates from the seat.
The development comes after Pehowa BJP workers demanded a “local face” be nominated last week. They said as loyal workers they felt betrayed by the decision to name a “parachute candidate”, overlooking the hard work of the committed cadre.
The saffron party has been facing rebellion in most parts of the state by its leaders, including a sitting cabinet minister, former ministers and legislators for not giving the party ticket to them.
