Datia bypoll: 'Negative feedback' and internal tussle cost Narottam Mishra ticket? BJP puts up united front

Datia (MP), Jul 12 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh BJP on Sunday sent senior party leaders to the Datia constituency to rally workers behind its candidate for the July 30 bypoll after supporters of former home minister Narottam Mishra went on a rampage following the denial of a ticket to him. The development has triggered intense speculation in state BJP circles, with the sources claiming that Mishra, once the party's troubleshooter in the state, lost the ticket following a last-minute review by the Central leadership and negative feedback on his electoral prospects. Latching onto the BJP's discomfiture, the Congress has alleged that Mishra was sidelined by CM Mohan Yadav. The bypoll was necessitated after Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti lost his assembly membership following his conviction in a cheating case. Votes will be counted on August 3. The Congress on Saturday nominated former MLA Ghanshyam Singh to take on the BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari in the bypoll. Tiwari, along with Mishra, is expected to file his nomination papers on Monday. Chief Minister Yadav is also likely to join them to send the signal that all is well within the party, said party insiders. Deputy CM Jagdish Devda, state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal, MP in-charge Mahendra Singh, Agriculture Minister and district in-charge Aidal Singh Kansana and other senior leaders went in a huddle here in the evening to finalise the party’s election strategy, they said. Denying any factionalism in the BJP, Devda said "small issues" crop up in large families. The leaders urged party workers to remain united and ensure Tiwari’s victory, according to the sources. The meeting followed Saturday’s discussions in Bhopal involving Mishra, CM Yadav, Khandelwal and the BJP’s regional organisational general secretary Ajay Jamwal. The party had then asserted that the organisation was supreme and all workers stood firmly behind its decision on the Datia candidate. The BJP also said resignations reportedly submitted by some workers in protest against the denial of a ticket to Mishra would not be accepted. Amid speculation about the likely causes behind Mishra losing out to Tiwari, BJP insiders claimed two influential leaders from the state unit had also opposed Mishra's candidature during internal consultations in New Delhi. Sources said the state BJP unit had forwarded Mishra's name as its sole recommendation after Chief Minister Mohan Yadav met senior party leaders on July 6. However, feedback gathered subsequently by the central leadership in New Delhi suggested Mishra's electoral position was not as strong as initially assessed. The Central leadership also sought an internal assessment regarding Mishra's son Sukarn Mishra before eventually deciding to field former divisional organisational secretary Ashutosh Tiwari for the upcoming bypoll, sources added. Party insiders also claimed Mishra, a six-time MLA, could have emerged as another power centre in the state if he had won the bypoll and returned to the cabinet. They said the leadership also wanted to maintain a balance among senior leaders in the faction-ridden state unit while retaining the BJP's traditional Brahmin support base in Datia by fielding Tiwari, who has an RSS background. Datia has more than 30,000 Brahmin voters. The BJP announced Tiwari's candidature on Friday, triggering 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 lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowd and detained several protesters. On Saturday, the BJP launched a damage-control exercise, with Mishra meeting CM Yadav, state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal and regional organisational general secretary Ajay Jamwal. The BJP later said the organisation was supreme and workers stood united behind the party's decision, maintaining that resignations submitted by some workers would not be accepted. Mishra, known for his aggressive political style, had played a key role in bringing down the 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led Congress government in 2020 after Jyotiraditya Scindia rebelled. Political observers claimed that the new BJP appears to have dismantled the "regional satraps" by denying a ticket to Mishra. Political analyst Rasheed Kidwai described the developments in Datia as "intriguing and unprecedented" in the BJP after 2014. "What is happening in the BJP is rather intriguing and unprecedented since 2014, when the top leadership established its supremacy across the party hierarchy. The BJP often mocked the Congress for its inability to keep its flock together. But in Datia, it witnessed a full-blown rebellion," Kidwai, a visiting fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, told PTI. Senior journalist and political observer Girija Shankar said Mishra's political script had effectively been written before the 2023 assembly elections. "The new BJP appears to have dismantled the regional satraps," he said, referring to the party's decision to field former Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel and former chief whip in Lok Sabha Rakesh Singh in the previous assembly polls. The Congress, meanwhile, claimed the internal divisions in the BJP have come into the open. Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar alleged that after former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, CM Yadav has "finished off" Mishra politically. He said the BJP will be routed in the bypoll against the Congress candidate. Earlier in the day, Tiwari offered prayers at the famous Pitambara Peeth temple in Datia before formally launching his campaign. "The party has asked me to serve the people," he told reporters. Tiwari said he would carry forward the development works undertaken by Mishra and work under the guidance of senior party leaders for the constituency’s overall development. PTI LAL GK NR NSK