A Bahujan Samaj Party legislator in Rajasthan alleged on Thursday that the party gives election tickets in exchange for money, with the ticket going to whoever pays the most. MLA Rajendra Gudha made the claim at a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) seminar held in the state assembly in Jaipur.

What Gudha said

“In our BSP party, tickets are given in lieu of money,” Gudha said. He went on to describe how a ticket would be given to one person if he paid more, and then to a third person if that person offered still more, and asked whether there was any solution to the problem.

He put the question to one of the panellists, academic and political scientist Suhas Palshikar, who was taken by surprise and chose not to respond. Rajendra Rathore, the BJP leader who is Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan and was also on the panel, said the answer would have to come directly from BSP chief Mayawati.

About the seminar

The session was titled “Changing party system and contemporary challenges of parliamentary democracy in India”. The one-day seminar, which had two technical sessions, was inaugurated in the assembly by former President Pranab Mukherjee.

Background

In the 2018 Rajasthan assembly election, the Congress emerged as the largest party with 99 of the 199 seats that voted on 7 December 2018, against 73 for the BJP, and Ashok Gehlot became Chief Minister.

See also: Bahujan Samaj Party and state assembly members.

Originally published on 2 August 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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