New DelhiThe Madhya Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accomplished a lot.epic winIn the local body elections that concluded last week, but the exercise has also exposed the bad blood between various factions of the party, with allegations of sabotage and manipulation to keep gossip mills churning.
Some of the BJP’s ‘official’ candidates in the rural civic polls – the last phase of the three-tier elections – have alleged that some Union ministers and members of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet worked for their defeat, and ultimately helped them. Congress.
In this phase of local body elections, indirect voting was held for the presidents of 51 district panchayats as well as for other posts. BJP-backed candidates won 41 district panchayat president posts, while eight and two went to Congress-backed and independent candidates, respectively.
BJP candidates who lost include Jyoti Prakash Dhurve, two-time district panchayat president from Dindori and wife of former BJP state minister Om Prakash Dhurve. with him blamed Congratulations to Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste for defeating Congress supported candidate this time. Kulaste’s aides, on the other hand, have accused Dhurve of not acting according to the party’s expectations.
In Damoh, former district panchayat president Shiv Charan Patel – a close aide of Union minister and Damoh MP Prahlad Singh Patel – has accused state PWD minister Gopal Bhargava and others of conspiring to help the Congress-backed candidate win.
Similar is the case in Harda too, where state minister Kamal Patel is facing some heat from the workers for the victory of Congress’ Riva Patel. She is the cousin of Kamal Patel.
Speaking to ThePrint, BJP state general secretary Bhagwandas Sabnani said that he was aware of the allegations. “The party is listening to the complaints of leaders who are accusing others of spoiling their chances, but only after August 15 a detailed analysis will be done in the respective districts,” he said.
While the BJP has outperformed all other parties in the local body elections and maintained that it bodes well for the 2023 MP Assembly elections, it did not repeat the clean sweep it achieved for the mayor posts, which it last achieved in 2014. did in the round. The party won nine out of 16 mayoral posts, while the Congress got five, none from last time, and the Aam Aadmi Party also opened its account with one post. Off the record, party leaders held responsible for the loss “Infighting, Poor Candidate Selection, and Overconfidence”,
The BJP on Tuesday shifted all its 34 councilors in Gwalior Municipal Corporation to Delhi ahead of the August 5 polling for the election of the municipal council president. apparently to counter the differences Among the “camps” of senior leaders.
Read also: Resort politics in MP? Before the Gwalior municipal elections, BJP shifted councilors to Delhi
Viral ‘danger’ by raising finger, a controversial Sweet
BJP supported candidate Jyoti Dhurve has won in Dindori. Allegedly Complained to CM Chouhan and state party president VD Sharma that Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste ensured that he did not get the required votes to win.
A close aide of Dhurve, on condition of anonymity, alleged: “For the election of the post of district panchayat president, the BJP and the Congress got five votes each. Two members had committed to supporting him, but Kulaste took one of them to Delhi. This member was unable to vote, so Jyoti lost.
However, BJP’s Dindori district president and a close aide of Kulaste, Naresh Rajput, blamed Dhurve for his defeat.
Speaking to ThePrint, Rajput alleged: “He did not take the organization into confidence for the elections and he campaigned alone. He also abused party workers. How can one win without taking the organization along? Even his supporters were not ready to vote for him.
Shortly before the polls, a video purportedly showing Dhurve threatening Rajput was widely circulated locally: “Pisces street But if I beat the size then no one will come to save… VD Sharma tell to (Even if I kick you on the road, no one will come to save you…go tell VD Sharma).”
Terrible dynamics were also going on in Damoh, where various camps Allegedly Different candidates supported for the post of District Panchayat President
Last Sunday, former district panchayat president Shiv Charan Patel allegedly visited the house of Damoh MP and Union minister Prahlad Patel, alleging that MP PWD minister Gopal Bhargava, former state finance minister Jayant Malaiya (former MP from Damoh), state Revenue Minister and Damoh in-charge Govind Singh Rajput, and BJP District President Pritam Singh Lodhi conspired to eliminate the possibility of a BJP-backed official candidate, resulting in the victory of the Congress contender.
“The Prahlad Patel faction supported Urmila Balram Patel for the post, but the Bhargava and Govind Singh Rajput groups favored Janki Devi, the wife of former district panchayat president Chandrabhan Singh. However, despite the support of these top leaders, Janaki (the official candidate) did not file her nomination. The Prahlad Patel faction has now asked state party president VD Sharma to take action against those leaders who are conspiring to weaken them. [Patel] in the district,” said a BJP leader in MP on condition of anonymity.
Much to the dismay at the local level, Prahlad Patel reportedly celebrated the defeat of Rajput’s cousin, Tinku Raja, who was running for another district panchayat post. Photos of Patel Visit a Sweet (Sweet) to the winner, BJP-backed Sarvjit Singh, were widely circulated on social media as a sign of factional division in the party.
Transport Govind Rajput’s nephew Tinku Raja has been appointed as Chief Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel.
Enemy at peak in battle… pic.twitter.com/rwuEer4hFL— Narendra Saluja (@NarendraSaluja) 11 July 2022
Govind Singh Rajput is a close confidante of Jyotiraditya Scindia left the Congress For BJP in 2020. Since then, there has been a quarrel For the importance between the Scindia faction and the old times of the BJP in the state.
At the same time, in Harda, BJP District President Amar Singh Meena cried foul When Congress-backed Riva Patel, who is the cousin of state minister Kamal Patel, won the post of district panchayat president.
thunder of discontent
Soon after the results of the mayoral election were announced, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya raised questions about apparent discrepancies in the electoral rolls in the urban local body elections – a concern raised by the Congress as well.
In a TV interview he Told That it was “worrisome” that voter lists were modified so that many people were unable to cast their votes, and that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan should look into the matter.
Many of the BJP’s seven mayoral posts fall under the bastions of senior party leaders. For example, Gwalior, Morena and Damoh are seen as strongholds of Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Patel respectively. At the same time, Katni comes under the parliamentary constituency of state president VD Sharma and Jabalpur is the home constituency of former state president and MP Rakesh Singh. The BJP’s best performance was in the Malwa region, which is the chief minister’s stronghold.
A BJP leader said: “In most places, candidates of senior leaders lost the elections. At present, all the opponents of Shivraj have lost the opportunity to pressurize the high command to change the CM. Those who are pressurizing Shivraj to give an assembly ticket to the leader of his camp, for them the bargaining chips are less.
Read also: ‘So much went wrong’: BJP’s introspection on defeat in MP civic polls