Datia bypoll: Congress fields Ghanshyam Singh; Narottam Mishra meets MP CM as supporters protest

Bhopal, Jul 11 (PTI) The Congress on Saturday nominated former MLA Ghanshyam Singh to take on the BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari in the July 30 byelection to Datia assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, while the ruling party faced violent protests by the supporters of veteran leader Narottam Mishra who was denied the ticket. Mishra, a former home minister, met Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal and the party's regional organisational general secretary Ajay Jamwal. Preparations for the election and organisational matters were discussed at the meeting, the BJP said in a statement. It was decided at the meeting that the organisation was supreme and all workers stood firmly behind its decisions. The resignations tendered by some party workers was an emotional reaction and they would not be accepted, it said. All its workers would campaign unitedly to ensure Tiwari's victory by a huge margin, the BJP said. The ruling party on Friday announced Tiwari's candidature, overlooking Mishra who has represented the constituency in the past. The decision triggered protests by Mishra's supporters, who blocked National Highway-44 for nearly 12 hours. Several police personnel, including the Datia superintendent of police, were injured in clashes and stone-pelting. Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters and detained several of them. State minister Kailash Vijayvargiya ruled out any change in the BJP candidate, saying the party has no tradition of replacing a nominee after the ticket is announced. The bypoll was necessitated after Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti lost his Assembly membership following his conviction in a cheating case. Polling is scheduled for July 30 and counting of votes will take place on August 3. Mishra told reporters that he will accompany Tiwari the day after tomorrow to file nomination papers in Datia. "I have told them (his supporter) to keep calm. Normalcy is returning in Datia, " Mishra said. "Narottam Mishra is our senior leader. Under his leadership we will fight elections and come out with flying colours," MP BJP chief Khandelwal said in a video message. Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh, 72, belongs to the erstwhile Datia royal family and is considered an influential political figure in the district. His father, Maharaj Krishna Singh Ju Deo, was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Bhind-Datia constituency on a Congress ticket in 1984. Ghanshyam Singh first won the Datia assembly seat in 1993 by defeating BJP candidate Shambhu Dayal Tiwari. After being denied a ticket in 1998, Singh returned to the assembly from Datia in 2003 by defeating Avdesh Nayak. He lost to Narottam Mishra in the 2008 assembly election. Singh unsuccessfully contested from Sevda in 2013 before winning the seat in 2018. However, he lost the 2023 assembly election to BJP's Pradeep Agrawal. "I am going to win the bypoll. I will work for the development of the constituency and focus on eradicating the politics of witch-hunt and casteism plaguing Datia," Singh told PTI over phone. Speaking to PTI Videos later, Singh said, "I thank the party, its leadership, the state president, the Leader of Opposition, and all the national leaders for placing their trust in me." Though Datia has seen infrastructure development over the past few years, the benefits have not reached the people. Despite crores of rupees being spent on hospitals, a medical college, schools, anganwadi centres and health facilities, services remain poor and corruption persists, the Congress leader alleged. "Our fight is to ensure that development truly benefits the public," he said. Singh's daughter Mandavi Raje said, "I am very happy, the people of Datia are also happy." Asked about his priorities, she said "First of all, fear-free Datia. Those who were afraid, those who were not coming out of their homes, all of them are standing with us as soon as the ticket was finalised. "The rule of goons must end in Datia, the rule of the people must come here. We are standing for the farmers and the poor," she said. Asked about protests by Mishra's supporters, she said "This is very wrong, this should not have happened, because the code of conduct is in force. Many ambulances were also stranded in that protest. The poor people were sitting in the vehicles, hungry and thirsty. This has sent a wrong message to the people." To a question about former MLA Rajendra Bharti, she said, "He will be with us. This election is being fought for the party. All the party workers will be with us, and we will fight the election together." The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), meanwhile, offered a ticket to Narottam Mishra for the byelection. Sunil Sharma, the MP head of Sena (UBT), said that if Mishra accepted the offer, party president and former Maharashtra chief minister Thackeray and others would campaign for him. Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda offered prayers at the famous Maa Pitambara temple in Datia in the evening before meeting local BJP leaders. State BJP chief Khandelwal is scheduled to visit Datia on Sunday. Asked if he sought divine intervention to end the infighting in the BJP, Devda told PTI over the phone, "I sought the blessings of the Mother (goddess) for everyone. "Small issues arise in a very large family. They get resolved," he added. PTI LAL MAS HWP COR ARU NR KRK