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BHOPAL: Union minister Amit Shah’s three-day visit to Madhya Pradesh has pacified many of the rebel BJP leaders who were enraged after being denied tickets.
Shah addressed two rallies in Junnardeo (Chhindwara) and Ujjain and spent most of his time holding organizational meetings and meeting rebel leaders.
Party leaders said that in three days, Shah managed to stave off trouble in at least 15 seats.Shah held meetings in Jabalpur, Bhopal and Gwalior. There was one scheduled in Indore on Sunday evening but it was cancelled. Those present in these meetings includedBJP central election in-charges Union ministers Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state party president VD Sharma, regional office-bearers, party’s assembly seat in-charges, district presidents and general secretaries.
Shah also held a meeting with state BJP core-committee members on Saturday evening.
Sources said Shah reviewed constituencies, one at a time, including those in Jabalpur, Bhopal and Narmadapuram divisions. He also addressed the challenges being faced by candidates in the constituencies.
Realizing that the anger of some leaders could cost the party many seats, the Union home minister called the rebels and spoke with them at length, after which they went back to working for the party in the constituencies. One of the tough protesters was Dheeraj Pateria in the Jabalpur North seat. In 2018, too, he was denied a ticket and BJP fielded former minister Sharad Jain. An angry Pateria contested and bagged 29,479 votes while Jain got 49,467. In the BJP’s internal fight, Congress’ Vinay Kumar Saxena scraped through by a paper-thin margin of 578 votes.
This time, the party fielded Abhilash Pandey. After the BJP’s fifth list was announced, supporters of Sharad Jain manhandled Union minister Bhupendra Yadav and his gunman inside the party office in Jabalpur. Pateria announced he will again contest the election as an independent.
A senior BJP leader said that Shah spoke with Pateria and managed to calm him. Pateria announced he will not contest the polls and will work for the party.
Former minister Paras Jain, who won Ujjain North six times and lost only once (in 1998), was furious at being denied a ticket. Shah met him on Sunday and invited him to New Delhi after the assembly elections. According to sources, Jain told him that he had contested elections for 35 years and never had to approach leaders in Delhi or Bhopal for a ticket.
He told Shah that not only was he denied a ticket but he was not even consulted on the candidature. Shah asked him to go work for the party.
Another former minister, Ranjana Baghel, posed a threat after being denied the ticket from Dhar. Shah spoke to her and pacified the situation. On Shah’s insistence, phone calls were made by Sharma and BJP national organizational joint general secretary Shiv Prakash to more than a dozen angry leaders.
The Jabalpur BJP city president, Prabhat Sahu, however, resigned on Sunday, alleging inaction by the central leadership against those responsible for the violence at the party office on October 21, when Union minister Yadav was manhandled.
Shah addressed two rallies in Junnardeo (Chhindwara) and Ujjain and spent most of his time holding organizational meetings and meeting rebel leaders.
Party leaders said that in three days, Shah managed to stave off trouble in at least 15 seats.Shah held meetings in Jabalpur, Bhopal and Gwalior. There was one scheduled in Indore on Sunday evening but it was cancelled. Those present in these meetings includedBJP central election in-charges Union ministers Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state party president VD Sharma, regional office-bearers, party’s assembly seat in-charges, district presidents and general secretaries.
Shah also held a meeting with state BJP core-committee members on Saturday evening.
Sources said Shah reviewed constituencies, one at a time, including those in Jabalpur, Bhopal and Narmadapuram divisions. He also addressed the challenges being faced by candidates in the constituencies.
Realizing that the anger of some leaders could cost the party many seats, the Union home minister called the rebels and spoke with them at length, after which they went back to working for the party in the constituencies. One of the tough protesters was Dheeraj Pateria in the Jabalpur North seat. In 2018, too, he was denied a ticket and BJP fielded former minister Sharad Jain. An angry Pateria contested and bagged 29,479 votes while Jain got 49,467. In the BJP’s internal fight, Congress’ Vinay Kumar Saxena scraped through by a paper-thin margin of 578 votes.
This time, the party fielded Abhilash Pandey. After the BJP’s fifth list was announced, supporters of Sharad Jain manhandled Union minister Bhupendra Yadav and his gunman inside the party office in Jabalpur. Pateria announced he will again contest the election as an independent.
A senior BJP leader said that Shah spoke with Pateria and managed to calm him. Pateria announced he will not contest the polls and will work for the party.
Former minister Paras Jain, who won Ujjain North six times and lost only once (in 1998), was furious at being denied a ticket. Shah met him on Sunday and invited him to New Delhi after the assembly elections. According to sources, Jain told him that he had contested elections for 35 years and never had to approach leaders in Delhi or Bhopal for a ticket.
He told Shah that not only was he denied a ticket but he was not even consulted on the candidature. Shah asked him to go work for the party.
Another former minister, Ranjana Baghel, posed a threat after being denied the ticket from Dhar. Shah spoke to her and pacified the situation. On Shah’s insistence, phone calls were made by Sharma and BJP national organizational joint general secretary Shiv Prakash to more than a dozen angry leaders.
The Jabalpur BJP city president, Prabhat Sahu, however, resigned on Sunday, alleging inaction by the central leadership against those responsible for the violence at the party office on October 21, when Union minister Yadav was manhandled.
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