BHOPAL: All doesn’t seem to be well within the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) after the declaration of first set of 15 candidates for 29-Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh on March 23.
First, it was the Singrauli district unit president of the party Kantidev Singh, who quit from his organizational post on Sunday, protesting against the party fielding sitting MP Riti Pathak from Sidhi seat of Vindhyan region.
But now it’s a far more powerful scheduled caste leader, the 2008 cash for votes scam fame five-time former Lok Sabha member and present Morena mayor Ashok Argal, who has decided to quit the BJP over denial of ticket from Bhind and Morena seats. Though he hasn’t made it clear what he’ll do after quitting BJP, possibility of him joining Congress cannot be ruled out.
Dejected over denial of ticket for the second consecutive time from Bhind-SC seat, Argal is believed to be in talks with the Congress leadership in Bhopal as well as Gwalior-Chambal region for joining the party. If Argal finally joins Congress, he could be fielded from Bhind seat, which he won on BJP ticket in 2009.
“I spent several hours on Saturday at the BJP central office trying to talk to senior national functionaries of the party, but no one had the time for me, who has been five times MP and is presently the mayor of Morena. None of the national leaders had time for me, whose father Chhaviram Argal too has been a BJP MP twice from Morena seat. Only god knows where some leaders of the party are taking it. Since the party has no place for its old values, hence I’ve decided to quit from it and take an independent-minded decision after that,” Argal told The New Indian Express on Tuesday.
When asked about possibility of him joining Congress if given a respectable offer, Argal said, “first I’ll quit the BJP, other things will be decided later.”
Argal had won as BJP candidate from Morena seat in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004 and later also repeated the winning streak from adjoining Bhind-SC seat in 2009. Despite being initially given the party ticket from Bhind seat again in 2014, Argal’s ticket was cut and the party instead fielded Bhagirath Prasad (who quit the Congress) from the seat which the ex-IAS officer Prasad won by around 1.5 lakh votes.
Importantly, this time the 50-year-old Argal’s name was among the panel of four probables (others being sitting MP Bhagirath Prasad, Sandhya Rai and ex-MP minister Lal Singh Arya) sent by state BJP to the central BJP for finalizing the ticket for Bhind seat. But it was Sandhya Rai (an MLA in 2008, but denied assembly poll ticket 2018) who managed to get the ticket, reportedly due to proximity to ex-CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the sitting Gwalior MP who has been shifted to Morena seat.
If Argal joins Congress, it will be a big loss to the BJP as the Congress can field him from Bhind. It will also boost Congress’ prospects in Morena seat. While Morena is a BJP bastion since 1996, the first time Argal won from there, the BJP has been winning Bhind seat since 1989.
If Argal switches over to Congress after quitting BJP, he would be BJP’s third former Lok Sabha member to have jumped onto the Congress’ bandwagon in MP. Prior to this five-time BJP MP from Hoshangabad and ex-union and MP minister Sartaj Singh and another five-time former BJP MP from Damoh and Khajuraho seat Ramkrishna Kusmaria ‘Babaji’ have joined the Kamal Nath-led Congress.
While Argal is believed to be in talks with Congress leaders for joining the grand old party, it remains to be seen whether sitting Morena MP Anoop Mishra, who is the nephew of ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, also follows suit or not, after being denied BJP ticket from Morena.
A source close to Mishra, confided that it’s true that the sitting Morena MP is dejected on being denied ticket from Morena, but he won’t join the Congress at any cost. “Instead Mishra has even asked Argal, not to quit BJP and join Congress,” said a source close to Anoop Mishra.
Mishra is still hopeful of party fielding him from Gwalior seat, as the panel of probable names sent by state party to central leadership, includes his name also from the seat won in 2014 by Narendra Singh Tomar.
Meanwhile, union minister and BJP candidate from Morena seat Narendra Singh Tomar has denied that Argal is going to the Congress. “No one is going anywhere, it’s true that Argal isn’t happy on being denied ticket from Bhind, but he’ll not join Congress,” claimed Tomar while talking to journalists in Gwalior.