Chandigarh/IBNS: In another setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) weeks ahead of the Assembly elections in Haryana, its state unit vice president has quit the party accusIing the leadership of prioritising leaders who have never worked for the organisation over those who have been loyal to it.

The recent resignation of Santosh Yadav, who is also a former deputy speaker, follows a string of similar actions by leaders upset over being denied a ticket after the BJP released two lists of candidates declared for the upcoming Haryana elections.

According to reports, Yadav was seeking a ticket from the Ateli Assembly seat, which has been allotted to Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh's daughter Aarti Singh Rao in the second list of 21 candidates released by the BJP on Tuesday.

In a letter sent to the president of the BJP in Haryana, Yadav wrote in Hindi that her dedication to the party had been unquestioned and she had followed its principles and policies in every situation.

"But, with great sorrow, I have to say that the party is neglecting those people who struggled for it at the grassroots level, worked with devotion and made a significant contribution in strengthening the party. Such dedicated workers are being sidelined and priority is being given to those persons who neither worked for the party nor for the citizens of their assembly constituency. This situation is very unfortunate and it is spreading disappointment and dissatisfaction among the party workers," she wrote.

Yadav's resignation from all party posts comes two days after a fellow vice president of the Haryana BJP, GL Sharma joined the Congress with more than 250 BJP workers on Sunday.

On Saturday, former Haryana minister Bachan Singh Arya quit the BJP after it decided to field Jannayak Janta Party rebel Ram Kumar Gautam, who had joined the party earlier this month, from the Safidon Assembly constituency.

Arya's resignation followed the exit of two Haryana ministers - Energy Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Social Justice Bishamber Singh Valmiki - and MLA Lakshman Napa, who were denied tickets by the party.

Key OBC leader Karan Dev Kamboj resigned from all party posts citing the same reason.

The loss of Chautala, 79, can hurt the party as he is the son of Chaudhary Devi Lal, one of Haryana's tallest leaders, who served as chief minister twice and was also a deputy prime minister.

Yadav's claim has been echoed by some of these leaders too that loyalists were being sidelined by the party leadership.