Bhopal: The BJP’s second list of 39 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections has triggered a mini storm in the party, with national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya going public with his reluctance to contest, saying, “Ab bade neta ho gae hain, haath waath jodne kaha jaenge (I’m a big politician now, where will I go with folded hands).”
Meanwhile, Sidhi MLA Kedarnath Shukla has taken umbrage at being denied a ticket, and has questioned his party’s decision to field Sidhi MP Riti Pathak in his place. Pathak, he claims, has “no base” in the Sidhi constituency and “hasn’t done work worth even Rs 100”. Shukla had found himself in the middle of a major controversy in July when a video clip, showing his aide Pravesh Shukla urinating on a tribal man, went viral.
After the BJP nominated him as its candidate from the Indore-1 seat, Vijayvargiya said while speaking to party workers Tuesday, “Meri ladne ki 1 percent iccha nahi hai (I don’t even have 1 percent desire to contest).”
The BJP had Monday night declared its second list of 39 candidates largely on the seats it had lost in the 2018 assembly elections. After ruling the state for 18 years under Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the party has fielded its national general secretary Vijayvargiya — an influential leader from the Malwa region — from Indore-1, and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, a strong Thakur face, from Dimni in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
Minister of State (MoS) for Food Processing and Jal Shakti Prahlad Singh Patel, a prominent OBC leader, will contest from Narsinghpur in the Bundelkhand region, and MoS for Steel and Rural Development Faggan Singh Kulaste — BJP’s strongest tribal face — from Niwas in Mandla district of the Mahakoshal region.
Four other Lok Sabha MPs are on the list. Former state BJP chief Rakesh Singh has been given a ticket from Jabalpur West, Riti Pathak has been fielded from Sidhi while Uday Pratap Singh has been given a ticket from Gadarwara in Narsinghpur.
Soon after the list came out Monday night, Vijayvargiya expressed surprise. A day later, he said he had no will to contest the election and was not in that mindset.
‘Leadership should investigate who gave them wrong feedback’
“Mein ander se khush nahi hu, kyuki mere ladne ki iccha hi nahi thi. 1 percent bhi iccha nahi thi. Ek mindset hota hai naa ladne kaa. Bade neta ho gae hai ab, haath waath jodne kaha jaenge. Toh bhashan dena aur nikal jaana yahi socha tha (I am not happy on the inside, because I had no desire to contest. Not even 1 percent desire. There is a mindset to fight right? I am a big politician now, where will I go with folded hands. I had thought I would give speeches and leave),” the BJP leader said while speaking to party workers and supporters in Indore Tuesday.
He added: “Hum ne toh plan bhi banaya tha roz 8 sabha karni hai is pure chunao. Par aap jo sochte hai wo hota kaha hai, jo upar wala chahta hai wohi hota hai. (I had even planned that every day I will hold 8 sabhas. But what you think never happens. Whatever he up there wants, happens).”
However, speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Vijayvargiya said that it was Home Minister Amit Shah’s strategy to get all leaders on the ground and this he claimed will break the narrative created by Congress that they are winning. He also said that this step will pay dividends and the party is moving towards winning a two-thirds majority in MP.
He, however, sounded unhappy about the possibility of his son Akash not getting a ticket. “One should know how to walk properly as BJP is a party which can make anyone run anytime. I was in great doubt and knew the party would not give tickets to both me and Akash. Why should I contest the election when Akash has made a place for himself in the city with his hard work? His politics should not be affected because of me. This was going on in my mind as a father, but after all the party’s orders are final.”
Meanwhile, speaking to ThePrint Wednesday, four-time sitting MLA from Sidhi Kedarnath Shukla questioned the choice of fielding Riti Pathak instead of him: “She will not only lose but her deposit will also be confiscated. The high command should investigate who gave them the wrong feedback while proposing her name as the candidate from Sidhi.”
Asked if it was the Pravesh Shukla (urinating) incident that led to the BJP high command’s decision, Kedarnath said, “What someone does behind my back, how does it reflect on me? Now if Rahul Gandhi screams Adani Adani day and night, does that affect Narendra Modi?”
Asked for a comment on Kedarnath Shukla’s remarks, Riti Pathak told ThePrint, “He has not questioned my competency but that of the central leadership. The people who run the country can be wrong about a ticket for Vidhan Sabha? Is that what he is saying?”
After Riti Pathak was declared the candidate from Sidhi, Rajesh Mishra, a senior BJP leader who had been with the BJP since its Jan Sangh days and had once been a district president, also resigned as a party member.
Commenting on Rajesh Mishra’s resignation, Kedarnath Shukla said, “It was Rajesh Mishra and his family who had circulated the urination video of Pravesh Shukla hoping that it would lead to my ticket getting cut and he being given the ticket instead. But after Riti Pathak was made the candidate, he resigned and now his son is eyeing a ticket from the Congress.”
Rajesh Mishra’s son Anoop, however, had denied all these allegations while speaking to ThePrint earlier.
Shukla also claimed that he had the support of the party workers and he will declare his final decision by 2 October.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)