Outgoing Hazaribagh MP and Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jayant Sinha on May 23 responded to the show cause notice issued to him by BJP state general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Aditya Sahu.

On May 21, BJP had issued a show-cause notice and directed him to responds within two days asking him why he did not take part in the election campaign for BJP candidate Manish Jaiswal nor he visited the booth to cast his vote on the day of polling on May 20.

Sinha, replying to the show cause notice said that he was surprised by the move of BJP issuing him show cause notice. He clarified that not a single senior party official reached out to him after he announced his decision to not contest the elections in March, and also that the party could have simply reached out to him for campaigning purposes.

Sinha said he voted through the postal ballot process as he was overseas due to pressing personal commitments.

"If the party had wanted me to participate in any election activities, you could surely have contacted me. However, not a single senior party official or MP/MLA from Jharkhand reached out to me post my announcement on March 2. I was not invited for any party events, rallies, or organisational meetings," the current BJP MP from Hazaribagh wrote, adding that he had supported Manish Jaiswal as the candidate from Day 1.

Sinha was invited by Jaiswal on April 29 for his nomination rally on May, but Sinha could not attend due to “late notice”. He however, went to Hazaribagh on May 2 and visited Jaiswal at his residence, said Sinha. “He was not present, so I conveyed my message to his family. There was no further contact from Jaiswal ji. I left Hazaribagh on May 3 and returned to Delhi," he said.

The BJP MP said he left India on May 10 after informing the Speaker. "The party had not asked me to participate in any events, so I saw no reason to stay. Before leaving India, I sent my vote through the postal ballot process. Therefore, it is wrong for you to allege that I did not exercise my responsibility to vote," he said in a two-page letter to Sahu.

He had then said that he wanted to focus on issues arising from global climate change, but would, however, “gladly continue” to work with the party on the economic and government related issues.

"Meanwhile, if the party wanted me to participate in any kind of election activities, then definitely you could have contacted me. However, after my announcement on March 2, no senior party functionary or MP/MLA from Jharkhand contacted me. I was not invited to any party program, rally or organisational meeting. If Babulal Marandi ji wanted to include me in the programs then he could have definitely invited me but he did not do so,” Sinha wrote on Wednesday