Sitting MP Ram Tahal Chowdhary resigned from the BJP on Wednesday for being denied a party ticket and declared once again that he would be contesting from the state capital as an Independent, compounding worries for the state party leadership that is now at a loss on dealing with his son, a party office-bearer looking after the

BJP’s rural unit in the constituency.

“Today (Wednesday), I sent my resignation letter to state BJP president Laxman Gilua. I am no longer a member of the BJP. I will contest these elections and file my nomination (Independent) on April 16. The BJP has hurt the sentiments of the people by denying me a ticket,” said Choudhary, who is known to have considerable clout in the rural belt of the Ranchi parliamentary constituency.

But BJP sources revealed that they were now more concerned about Ram Tahal’s son, Randheer, who is party president of Ranchi (rural), a post he is known to have earned at the behest of his father.

“We are in a Catch-22 situation. We don’t know which way Randheer will go in this election. Will he stay loyal to the party or will he back his father? We can neither give him a clean chit nor can we doubt his integrity just because his father has rebelled,” conceded a senior BJP leader.

On the record, state BJP organisational secretary Deepak Prakash reacted cautiously, saying there was no reason to doubt Randheer just because his father was unhappy with the BJP. “Did Jayant Sinha follow his father Yashwant Sinha when he openly spoke against the BJP? We have made fool-proof arrangements to win the Ranchi seat which no individual can undo,” he said.

As for Ram Tahal’s resignation, Prakash let it be known that the party was yet to received it. “We have not received his resignation letter. We will decide whether to accept it or not after that. We will persuade him to withdraw his letter,” he added.

Party sources said Randheer visited the BJP office regularly and attend meetings in his capacity as the president of the Ranchi rural unit. On Wednesday, while his father was addressing the media at a hotel, slamming the BJP and criticising chief minister Raghubar Das as an arrogant leader, Randheer was at the party office too.

Randheer was evasive when he asked about his priorities. “Mere liye vikat sthiti hai. Ek taraf pitaji hain, dusri taraf party hai. Lekin ek do din ke andar main kuch nirnay lene ki kosish karunga (I am in a difficult situation. On one side is my father and on the other is the party. I will try and decide what to do in a day or two),” he said.

Ram Tahal also did not elaborate on what he expected his son to do. “In the coming days, many people will resign from the BJP to protest against the dictatorial leadership at the state and central levels,” he said.

But another senior leader indicated that whatever the public statements of the BJP, internally, leaders were worried about the father-son duo.

“We don’t doubt his integrity,” he said about Randheer. “But we must prepare some alternative arrangements like a slow takeover of the rural unit of Ranchi district. Randheer is a good man but personally, politically and financially he has not grown out of the shadow of his father to take independent decisions,” he added.