Union minister Vijay Sampla accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of committing cow slaughter after he was denied a ticket to re-contest the Lok Sabha polls from Hoshiarpur. In March, the party had replaced the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment with MP Shwait Malik as Punjab BJP chief.

Sampla, a popular Dalit leader, expressed his disappointment with a series of tweets. “You [BJP] should have pointed out any fault,” Sampla tweeted. “What is my fault? There is no corruption charge against me. No one can raise a finger at my conduct. I got an airport in my region, got many new trains started, got roads built. If this is the fault, I will tell my coming generations that they must not commit these mistakes.”

The minister also removed the “chowkidar” prefix that all BJP leaders had added to their Twitter accounts as part of the party’s electoral campaign. On March 17, top BJP leaders, including the prime minister, prefixed the term “chowkidar” to their names on Twitter. The party also started a #MainBhiChowkidar campaign on social media, urging people to join it.

On Tuesday, the BJP in its 26th list nominated Som Prakash from Hoshiarpur, actor-turned-politicians Sunny Deol from Gurdaspur and Kirron Kher from Chandigar.