New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is taking centerstage in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Bihar electoral campaign—from pacifying rebel candidates who could play spoiler to ironing out differences within the NDA and strategising ahead of ticket distribution—to ensure the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) retains power in the state.
The model code of conduct is already in force in Bihar. Ahead of the two-phase assembly polls on 6 and 11 November, the NDA seat-sharing has resulted in 101 tickets each for the BJP and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), 29 tickets for the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and six each for Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.
Since the BJP began distributing its share of tickets, it has come under fire from several leaders denied a ticket and party workers who support them. The situation has become more alarming due to infighting and a lack of coordination within the BJP Bihar unit, sources said. Several neglected leaders filed nominations as independent candidates, whereas others held meetings with their supporters to decide on their future course of action. According to sources in the Bihar BJP unit, they tried to pacify such leaders and workers, but to no avail.
Last week, Amit Shah turned up in Bihar and actively resolved these issues.
For instance, soon after the BJP fielded lawyer Ratnesh Kushwaha from the Patna Sahib assembly seat, Patna Mayor Sita Sahu’s son Shishir Kumar filed his nomination as an Independent. However, according to sources, Amit Shah held talks with Shishir Kumar during his visit to Bihar, after which the latter not only withdrew his nomination but also made a public statement that he would work for the BJP candidate.
Interesting scenes also unfolded in Bhagalpur, where, in the aftermath of not securing a ticket from the Bhagalpur assembly, the son of former minister Ashwani Choubey—Arjit Shashwat Choubey—announced his decision to contest the elections as an Independent. However, sources said that while he was on his way to file the nominations, he received a call from his father and decided not to go ahead.
Not only him but also the BJP’s Bihar media panellist, Preeti Shekhar, earlier decided to contest the elections from Bhagalpur alone. But following a meeting with Amit Shah, she reportedly declared her intention to work in favour of BJP candidate Rohit Pandey and other NDA candidates.
Soon after Rohit Pandey got a ticket from the Bhagalpur assembly, Preeti Shekhar decided to contest as an Independent, said a party functionary. “She was planning to file her nomination, but after Amit Shah’s instructions, she decided to toe the line.”
According to sources, Preeti Shekhar, after a meeting with Amit Shah, among the senior leadership, “held a meeting with her supporters and told them to work for the party candidate and ensure his victory”.
Speaking to ThePrint, Bihar BJP media in-charge Danish Iqbal confirmed a few instances of leaders, along with their supporters, filing nominations separately. Iqbal, however, added that none of the leaders or workers were upset with the leadership and have now decided to work for the candidates chosen by the party.
“When a senior leader, like Amit Shah, holds discussions with party workers and leaders and explains the reasoning behind the party decisions, they do listen,” Iqbal said.
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‘They listen to Amit Shah’
“There is a major difference between the BJP and other political parties, like the Mahagathbandhan. There is a huge difference between the work culture and style of other parties and the BJP. After the announcement of the candidate list, some workers were definitely angry and upset for a short period and made it visible too,” Iqbal said. “However, they were upset because they felt the party should have fielded them; they were not upset with the party or the leadership. They expressed their disappointment, and when a senior leader, like Amit Shah, meets them, they forget all these issues and decide to work for the party. These party workers are firmly with the party ideology.”
Explaining the party’s strategy, a senior BJP leader said that Amit Shah spent the last few days in Bihar, making it a point to personally meet and hold discussions with dissenting party workers and leaders, including several sitting MLAs, who have not received a ticket this time. He urged them to work for the party and ensure the NDA’s victory.
“This is how involved our senior party leaders are with the election management. Rebel candidates are not a new phenomenon—it happens all the time—but the manner of tackling it is important,” a BJP leader in Patna said. “The micromanagement of [Amit] Shah is unmatched. The elections are too important for the [NDA] alliance, and the involvement of senior leadership reflects that.”
Most of the dissenters have now vowed to work together and ensure the NDA’s victory.
According to sources, Gopalganj sitting BJP MLA Kusum Devi’s son Aniket Kumar also filed papers as an independent candidate. But, after meeting Amit Shah, the BJP MLA convinced her son to step out of the race, publicly announcing support for the official BJP candidate.
In Buxar, Amarendra Pandey, who was upset over not receiving the BJP ticket, filed nominations as an independent candidate. However, later on, citing “respect for party leadership”, he withdrew his nomination. The party has fielded former IPS officer Anand Mishra from the seat—a decision strongly criticised by the local leadership.
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‘BJP scares people’
Moreover, BJP leader Satya Prakash Tiwari filed his nomination in Brahampur as a candidate of the Jan Suraaj Party. But he withdrew the nomination after a meeting with the senior leadership, confirmed sources.
Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) leader Prashant Kishor has alleged that three of his party’s candidates have withdrawn their nominations. They include BJP rebel leaders Mutur Shah from Danapur, Satya Prakash Tiwari from Brahampur, and Shashi Shekhar Sinha from Gopalganj.
Addressing a press conference, Prashant Kishor alleged that in the case of Danapur, Jan Suraaj candidate Akhilesh Kumar alias Mutur Shah was detained by the BJP and prevented from filing his nomination. The candidate, he said, was kept the entire day with senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah.
Kishor also released a photograph purportedly showing BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan with Jan Suraaj’s Brahampur nominee Satya Prakash Tiwari. He claimed that “the BJP scares the people”.
Even as most BJP leaders and workers have decided to toe the party line, there are a few who have gone ahead despite assurances. For instance, Ashok Kumar Singh, who led the BJP to four consecutive victories from the 1997 Paroo assembly seat in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, has now decided to contest as an Independent from the seat.
Ashok Kumar Singh, who served as Paroo MLA from 2005 to 2020, is now the sitting MLA of Ramgarh assembly. The BJP, as part of the NDA alliance, has allocated the Paroo seat to the Rashtriya Lok Morcha. The NDA candidate in Ramgarh remains unannounced, so far.
“Amit Shah had to intervene as he has a different stature, and when it became apparent that other senior leaders would not be able to tackle it, he decided to take things into his own hands. But despite all this, one thing to watch out for is internal sabotage, as some of the leaders may have agreed for now, but what role they will play in the assembly elections will be interesting to see,” said a senior party leader.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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