BJP bids adieu to former minister Devi Singh Bhati

The BJP in Rajasthan Friday accepted the resignation of the former minister and party rebel Devi Singh Bhati, who had quit over the fielding of Union Minister of State Arjun Ram Meghwal from the Bikaner parliamentary seat. Bhati had forwarded his resignation to the party's state president Madan Lal Saini on March 15. "The resignation has been accepted," Saini said here.

Bhati had differences with Meghwal, the sitting MP from Bikaner, and had opposed the party's decision to give the latter the ticket from the constituency again. "I resigned from the party with a very heavy heart," Bhati said. The seven-time MLA had accused Meghwal of working as an "agent of the Congress".

(With inputs from agencies.)