Jaipur, June 25: Ghanshyam Tiwari, a five-time legislator representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan, announced his decision to quit the party on Monday. In his resignation letter to BJP president Amit Shah, Tiwari said the state has "witnessed unprecedented corruption" under the reign of Vasundhara Raje, the incumbent Chief Minister.

Tiwari, in his letter, alleged the creation of a "coterie" involving industrialists, bureaucrats and ministers by Raje. "This coterie is looting Rajasthan of its taxpayers' money and resources," he claimed.

Later, while addressing a press conference, Tiwari also lashed out at the central leadership of the BJP, accusing it of ruling the country in an authoritarian manner.

"There has been an undeclared emergency imposed in the country...Times calls for us to fight back," he said, further adding that the Congress and the BJP are hand-in-glove in large-scale corruption.

Tiwari, 70, has floated a new political outfit - Bharatiya Vahini Sena. The party, headed by his son Akhilesh, was officially registered with the Election Commission of India in the past week.

While speaking to reporters today, Tiwari said he would be contesting from Sanganer (Jaipur) -- the seat from where he has been elected five times -- in the upcoming assembly elections. His party, he claimed, would be fielding candidates in over 200 constituencies.

Reacting to his ouster, BJP state president Ashok Parnami said it would not affect the morale of the party cadres. "This shows there is no space for indiscipline in the BJP," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 25, 2018 05:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).