Santosh Ahlawat, the only woman MP from Rajasthan in the 16th Lok Sabha, on March 23 expressed disappointment over being dropped from the first list of BJP candidates from the State, saying she has been axed despite the work done by her.
“This is very disappointing that I was denied ticket despite the works I have done for the constituency as well as for the party and workers in five years.
“I took keen interest in promoting and encouraging birth of girl child and girls’ education and also got huge support from people and party workers but my name was dropped for no reason,” Ms. Ahlawat said.
“Development of four highways, opening of passport office besides several other works took place in my tenure. In 2011, I initiated a campaign for promoting girl child birth and after that the performance of the constituency in ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ was remarkable and we got four awards for our performance,” she said.
Ms. Ahlawat claimed that the sex ratio which was 642 six years back has now now reached 942 in Jhunjhunu as a result of her efforts.
“I am the only sitting woman MP in the State and worked for my constituency and people, yet the party did not consider me to retain on the seat. There is resentment among the party workers and supporters,” she said.
However, she said she will not be contesting election as a rebel candidate if the party did not field her as its official candidate. “I am working for the party for the last 35 years. It was a traditional Congress seat but BJP won it in 2014 with a high margin. In Parliament, I raised numerous questions and several developmental works were started. I also represented India in an U.N. conference,” she added.