POLITICS
MP BJP leaders ‘unhappy’. Vijayvargiya says, ‘I am a big leader, where will I go with folded hands?’
- Admin
- Sep 28, 2023
MP BJP leaders ‘unhappy’. Vijayvargiya says, ‘I am a big leader, where will I go with folded hands?’
Party’s second list of candidates for Madhya Pradesh assembly polls has left some leaders scowling. Sidhi MLA Kedarnath Shukla takes umbrage at being denied ticket.
The BJP’s second list of 39 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections has triggered a mini storm in the party, with national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya going public with his reluctance to contest, saying, “Ab bade neta ho gae hain, haath waath jodne kaha jaenge (I’m a big politician now, where will I go with folded hands).”
Meanwhile, Sidhi MLA Kedarnath Shukla has taken umbrage at being denied a ticket, and has questioned his party’s decision to field Sidhi MP Riti Pathak in his place. Pathak, he claims, has “no base” in the Sidhi constituency and “hasn’t done work worth even Rs 100”. Shukla had found himself in the middle of a major controversy in July when a video clip, showing his aide Pravesh Shukla urinating on a tribal man, went viral.
The BJP had Monday night declerd its second list of 39 candidates largely on the seats it had lost in the 2018 assembly elections. After ruling the state for 18 years under Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the party has fielded its national general secretary Vijayvargiya — an influential leader from the Malwa region — from Indore-1, and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, a strong Thakur face, from Dimni in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
Minister of State (MoS) for Food Processing and Jal Shakti Prahlad Singh Patel, a prominent OBC leader, will contest from Narsinghpur in the Bundelkhand region, and MoS for Steel and Rural Development Faggan Singh Kulaste — BJP’s strongest tribal face — from Niwas in Mandla district of the Mahakoshal region.
Four other Lok Sabha MPs are on the list. Former state BJP chief Rakesh Singh has been given a ticket from Jabalpur West, Riti Pathak has been fielded from Sidhi while Uday Pratap Singh has been given a ticket from Gadarwara in Narsinghpur.
Soon after the list came out Monday night, Vijayvargiya expressed surprise. A day later, he said he had no will to contest the election and was not in that mindset.
