Jaswant Singh defies BJP, files nomination from Barmer as an Independent Monday March 24,2014

Miffed over denial of the Lok Sabha ticket by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Barmer,Rajasthan senior party leader Jaswant Singh has thrown a direct challenge to the party leadership.

Jaswant Singh,the 76-year-old veteran leader on Monday March 24,2014 filed his nomination papers in Barmer as an Independent candidate.

Jaswant Singh will now be fighting the elections against BJP candidate Colonel Sona Ram Choudhary who enjoys the backing of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. 

Colonel Sona Ram Choudhary left the Congress and joined the BJP just three days ago and was offered the ticket the same day.

Jaswant Singh had insisted on fighting from the Barmer seat saying that he wanted to return to his hometown as this would be his last Lok Sabha election. The BJP, however, denied him a ticket from the seat and instead asked him to contest from Dahod in Gujarat.