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Madhya Pradesh polls: BJP, Cong face defections, anger over ticket distribution
The BJP has so far denied tickets to 32 lawmakers, including three ministers, as it has announced the names of 228 out of 230 candidates
Former minister Rustam Singh has resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the latest in a series of defections amid protests over ticket distribution of both Madhya Pradesh’s ruling party and Opposition Congress.
Singh, 78, a retired Indian Police Service, quit the BJP on Monday, blaming the “neglect of party workers and rewarding of those involved in anti-party activities” for his resignation. The Gurjar leader has influence in the Chambal region.
The BJP has so far denied tickets to 32 lawmakers, including three ministers, as it has announced the names of 228 out of 230 candidates. It is yet to name candidates for the Guna and Vidisha seats.
Supporters of former home minister Umashankar Gupta, 71, blamed the denial of a BJP ticket for his hospitalisation for angioplasty. On Sunday, about 200 BJP members, including three corporators, resigned from the party over the denial of ticket to Gupta. Gupta lost the 2018 elections from the Bhopal South-West constituency by over 6000 votes. He was expecting a ticket from the same seat. On Saturday, the BJP named Bhagwan Das Sabnani as the candidate from Bhopal South-West and triggered protests.
Manoj Jat, a BJP worker, said Gupta was under much stress due to the treatment meted out to him. He underwent angioplasty and is in an Intensive Care Unit.”
Former state BJP chief Nand Kumar Chauhan’s son, Harshvardhan Chauhan, who was expecting a ticket from Khandwa, led a protest march against Gyaneshwar Patil’s nomination. He was denied the ticket for the Khandwa Lok Sabha by-poll after his father’s death.
BJP leaders said former ministers Ranjana Baghel and Paras Jain as well as former lawmaker Rasal Singh have also rebelled. “There were reports of protests from at least 20 constituencies,” said a BJP leader.
On Saturday, BJP workers were booked for assaulting a guard of Union minister and Madhya Pradesh BJP in-charge Bhupendra Yadav in Jabalpur. The workers were protesting against Abhilash Pandey’s candidature from Jabalpur North.
Congress lawmaker Ajab Singh Kushwaha was expected to contest on a BSP ticket along with former Member of Parliament Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi, Nasir Islam, and Kedar Kansana.
On Monday, Congress workers from Shujalpur and Hoshangabad staged a protest outside Congress president Kamal Nath’s residence in Bhopal. A case was registered on Monday against Congress legislator Murli Morwal and his 50 supporters for protesting outside Nath’s house on Sunday. One of the supporters allegedly attempted self-immolation.
Political analyst Dinesh Gupta said both the parties have failed to put in a mechanism to deal with rebellions. “The initial message was everything was centralised and party high commands would take final decisions on the candidates based on surveys. But the surveys were apparently ignored and the local leaders influenced the candidates lists and have hence led to the rebellions.”
State Congress spokesperson Swadesh Sharma acknowledged they have faced problems due to multiple aspirants for seats. “But everything will be resolved amicably.”
BJP leader Rajneesh Agrawal denied any rebellion in the party. “If there are minor issues, our party leadership will look into them. Unlike Congress, BJP is the party of committed workers and we all work for the party’s victory.”
