The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday found itself in a spot of bother after supporters of Narottam Mishra staged a protest in Datia after the party didn't field the former Madhya Pradesh home minister for the byelections from the Datia assembly constituency.
The Datia assembly seat, which comes under the Bhind Lok Sabha seat and is part of the Datia district, was considered to be a bastion of Mishra, even though he lost the 2023 assembly elections here. Mishra was looking to contest the byelection from Datia, but the BJP leadership decided against fielding him, declaring Ashutosh Tiwari as its nominee.
It is not clear why Tiwari was nominated, but party sources told news agency PTI that he has been quite active in the BJP's state leadership. Following the announcement, Tiwari thanked the BJP leadership, while describing Mishra as his guardian. "Mishra is a very senior leader, my guardian, and he said he will campaign for the party and me," Tiwari, a resident Datia's Sevda town, said.
The protests by Mishra's supporters
But BJP's decision to nominate Tiwari left Mishra's supporters disappointed, who staged a violent protest in Datia on Saturday. The supporters even clashed with police and blocked the national highway (NH) 44, demanding Mishra be declared the party candidate.
The protesters even pelted stones on police, injuring six personnel and forcing the authorities to resort to tear-gas shells to disperse the crowd and detain many of them. Some also damaged police and other vehicles, but the situation was brought under control soon.
"We tried to pacify them, citing the enforcement of the model code of conduct in the town. However, after they refused to back down and pelted stones, cops fired teargas shells to control the situation," Superintendent of Police (SP) Mayur Khandelwal said.
BJP firm on its decision
Sources have told PTI that many of party's office-bearers, including the district unit president and local corporators, have resigned from the BJP in protest over this decision. Despite this, the saffron party has refused to change its decision and nominate Mishra for the byelection.
Kailash Vijayvargiya, Madhya Pradesh minister and a senior BJP leader, also criticised the protesters and said though the party remains democratic, no one is allowed to stage violet protests and discipline is crucial for workers. He also backed Tiwari to register a thumping victory in the byelection.
"Many people prepare to contest elections, but not everyone can get a ticket. The party's decision is paramount, and every worker will abide by it," the cabinet minister said. "Once a candidate is declared, there has never been a tradition in the BJP of changing the ticket. I don't think the candidate will be changed."
Mishra says no 'resentment'
Denying reporters of 'resentment' after being denied a ticket for the byelection, Mishra said on Saturday that he will abide by the party leadership's decision. He said he will back Tiwari and campaign for him if asked by the BJP top brass.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Mishra said the party workers should avoid the violent protests and pelting stones. He even said he is not considering quitting the saffron party, stressing that he is not 'angry' with anyone and will attend Tiwari's nomination.
"Whatever will happen, will be good. Everyone expects a ticket. There is no problem. I am not at all sad. The party has given a lot. There was no vandalism. But we will convince them, they will agree. They are our own workers," the former Madhya Pradesh home minister said.
Datia: The Narottam Mishra bastion and the bypoll
The Datia assembly constituency was a bastion of Mishra, who has won three assembly elections consecutively from here: 2008, 2013 and 2018. However, Mishra lost his constituency to Congress' Rajendra Bharti in the 2023 assembly polls. As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), Mishra received 81,235 or 35.96 per cent votes against Bharti's 88,977 or 40.34 per cent votes.
However, the byelection in Datia was necessitated after Bharti lost his assembly membership after being sentenced to three-year jail term in a cheating case in April this year, although the Congress had secured a bail later. Till now, Congress has not announced its Datia candidate, though.
The polling in Datia will take place on July 30 and the counting of votes will take place on August 3.
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