NEW DELHI: Internal conflict appears to have delayed BJP’s announcement of candidates for a few remaining Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh.
While rebellion threatens to compound the party’s challenge to repeat the success of 2014 polls, former state chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is learnt to be digging in heels in picking nominees for prestigious Bhopal and Vidisha constituencies.
“Chouhan wants to contest either from Bhopal or Vidisha, but he’s insisting that his Budhni Assembly seat, in the event of his election, should go either to his wife or son. This is in contrast to party high command’s clear aversion for promoting dynasty in the party ranks,” said a source, who claimed that Uma Bharti is not in contention from Bhopal.
It has been reliably learnt that Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar is also keen to contest from Bhopal, besides Morena parliamentary constituency.
“Tomar, who was shifted out of Gwalior, isn’t comfortable in Morena,” the source added.
The BJP, having won 27 Lok Sabha seats in 2014, is seemingly facing an uphill task to defend the turf
after losing the Assembly elections last year.
“In Balaghat, BJP rebel Bodh Singh Bhagat didn’t withdraw his nomination as an Independent candidate. Former MP Govind Mishra, who won Siddhi Lok Sabha seat in 2009, has quit the party. There are rebellions against the party nominee in Tikamgarh where R D Prajapati, father of a local party MLA, has been fielded by SP,” said a senior BJP functionary.
Sources further said the chances of the BJP top brass picking party’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya from Indore, which was won by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in 2014, were dim.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a grim view of Vijayvargiya pushing his son for the Assembly elections,” added the BJP functionary.