BJP’s Central team to intensify efforts to bring dissidents on one stage in poll-bound MP

Bhopal: After taking full control over Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections slated for end of this year, the Central BJP leadership has stepped up effort to bring its own dissidents on one stage – one of the key challenge before the ruling party, as several leaders and workers across the state have registered their displeasure openly in different regions in the past few months.

The centrally appointed election team comprising Union Ministers - Narendra Singh Tomar, Bhupendra Yadav and Jyotiraditya Scindia along with the state BJP leadership have began the operation from Gwalior-Chambal division. The bastions of two Union Ministers - Tomar (Chambal) and Scindia (Gwalior) -- perhaps have been more worrying for the BJP as the factionalism between new versus old cadres has widened in this particular region since March 2020.

A similar operation was carried out a couple of months back in which senior party leaders of the state unit BJP from different regions were assigned to convince those who have expressed their displeasure on state leadership especially Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and MP unit head V. D. Sharma. Around a dozen state BJP leaders carried out this operation for over two weeks in their respective regions and they succeeded at some points but not fully.

A Gwalior-based youth BJP worker claimed the resentment among ground level party workers has gone high as they were sidelined and all prominence given to Scindia loyalists only.

“BJP workers of non-Scindia faction would have to run from pillar to post for even a small work. Every time they have to knock the doors in Bhopal even for a genuine work. In every assembly constituency under Gwalior, Guna and Shivpuri district, five-six agents of Scindia would decide the whole matter,” Gwalior-based youth BJP worker, who belongs to Gurjar community said on condition `of anonymity.

The ruling BJP is facing a similar situation of resentment with its own faction in other segments of Madhya Pradesh and therefore the the election committee led by seniormost party leader Narendra Singh Tomar as convener would be carrying out similar operations in all divisions in coming days, sources told IANS.

After a marathon meeting of the BJP late on Saturday in Gwalior was over, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who comes from Dalit (Gwalior-Chambal division), talking to media said the party will win maximum seats in the region. He accepted that the Congress had won majority of seats in 2018 elections from this particular region because of Scindia factor.

“In the meeting, party has framed strategy to strengthen our booths. Last time, the Congress had won more seats than the BJP but the situation was different that time. Jyotiraditya Scindia was in Congress, and people misled by fake announcement on loan waivers and violence on April 2 just before the elections were the main reasons. But, this time, the situation is very different as Scindia is in BJP now,” Mishra added.