Rajasthan: 5-time BJP MLA resigns, quits party

A Rajasthan minister, who was dropped by the Bharatiya Janata Party in its first list of candidates for the assembly election, resigned from his post and the party on Monday.

Surendra Goyal, the public health engineering and groundwater minister who represents the Jaitaran constituency, tendered separate resignations to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and the party's state president, Madan Lal Saini.

The five-time MLA has not sighted any reason for the resignation. In its first list of 131 candidates released on Sunday night, the BJP has fielded a new face, Avinash Gehlot, from Jaitaran.

Saini was not available for comment as he was busy in a meeting at the chief minister's residence here.