No end to war of words between Malaiya, Kusmaria

BHOPAL: The war of words between outgoing finance minister Jayant Malaiya and the BJP rebel

Ramkrishna Kusmaria

is continuing even after the poll results. Malaiya has lost from Damoh where Kusmaria had contested as an independent.


Talking about his motive behind contesting against Malaiya, Kusmaria said, “I wanted to teach a lesson as he had formed a caucus in the BJP. I was humiliated for 20 years in Damoh. Besides, he did not work for the development of Damoh. So I decided to transfer all the votes of his supporters in Damoh and Patharia to Congress and BSP candidates respectively.” He claimed that he successfully transferred 10,000 to 15,000 votes to Congress and BSP candidates in Damoh and Patharia.

After a tough fight, Jayant Malaiya lost by a margin of 798 votes. Kusmaria polled only 1133 votes.

Taking a dig at Kusmaria, Malaiya said,"Even a eunuch MLA has polled more votes than Kusmaria".

Rihana Sabbo Bua , an eunuch independent candidate, polled 1133 votes.

Rahul Singh of the Congress emerged winner with 78997 votes, while Malaiya polled 78199 votes.

Talking to a group of reporters in Damoh on Wednesday, Malaiya said , “The party had given every thing to Kusmaria. What else does he want after becoming MLA, MP and even chairman of

Bundelkhand

development authority”.

The trouble started before the election when Kusmaria wanted to contest from Patharia in

Damoh district

, but allegedly Malaiya got his ticket cancelled and it was given to Lakhan Patel. Thereafter, Kusmaria decided to contest from both the seats. However, he lost deposit from both the places. Though people rejected him, his candidature cost Malaiya dearly.

Political pundits also said that the

Kurmi

supporters of Kusmaria also influenced outcome on many seats in

Chhatarpur

and Panna districts as well.