Bhopal: Don’t worry too much about rebels and instead channelise your efforts to increase voter turnout in every booth, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has told party leaders in Madhya Pradesh, it is learnt.
On a three-day visit to the poll-bound state, the chief strategist of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also met several disgruntled leaders who were denied tickets.
“In a wedding, both fufa (maternal uncle) and bua (maternal aunt) attend. Fufa may be grumpy but bua works diligently. Eventually, they all come around,” a BJP functionary quoted Shah as telling party leaders.
Shah also held meetings in Bhopal, Ujjain and Jabalpur, pacifying rebels and dissuading them from contesting the upcoming polls. Besides addressing organisational meetings in Bhopal, Gwalior and Ujjain, he held public meetings in Chhindwara’s Junnardeo and Ujjain.
While in Ujjain, Shah met Dheeraj Pateria — who was denied a ticket from Jabalpur North. He also met former minister and six-time MLA Paras Jain, who was reportedly upset at not being consulted over ticket distribution in Ujjain North.
Shah was also briefed about Pratap Singh Sondhiya, a district member of the BJP who rebelled after the party fielded Bahadur Singh Chouhan from Mahidpur seat in Ujjain. According to sources, party leaders told Shah that Sondhiya was unlikely to back down.
In Rewa, Shah met Panchulal Prajapati, the sitting MLA from Mangawan, and Shyam Lal Dwivedi, the sitting MLA from Teonthar. Both were denied tickets.
And in Dhar, he met former state minister Ranjana Baghel. Denied a ticket, Baghel had held a rally in Dhar where she trained her guns at state BJP leaders.
As the BJP navigates through internal challenges, the situation is further complicated by dissent over candidate selections that could impact their overall strategy in the upcoming elections.
According to a senior Madhya Pradesh BJP leader, while in Ujjain, Amit Shah reviewed the party’s preparedness in the assembly seats in Ujjain and Indore divisions and sought updates from all district presidents in one-on-one meetings.
According to party sources, Shah has tasked Union ministers Bhupender Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw with ensuring that rebel BJP leaders do not jump into the fray as independents.
The BJP, sources added, is also trying to prompt a triangular contest in several seats since the party believes that Samajwadi Party entering the poll fray could end up hurting the prospects of SP’s INDIA ally, the Congress party.
In one of his meetings, Shah urged BJP workers to be the first ones to cast their vote early in the morning along with their families, and for each one of them to then call up ten more people and ask them to vote.
“The party is doing well and those upset will definitely come around. The focus of these meetings was also to motivate booth workers to ensure high voter turnout and ensure the BJP gets at least 51 percent of the votes,” state BJP president V.D. Sharma told The Print.
Shah’s message, Sharma said, was clear: “He urged those upset at being denied a ticket to reflect if they could have won had they been given a ticket.”
“Self-reflection is of utmost importance,” added Sharma, the BJP leader from Gwalior-Chambal.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)