MP Polls: BJP and Congress Expel 74 Rebel Leaders After Failed Attempts to Pacify Them

Bhopal: Taking disciplinary action against rebels, the BJP on Saturday suspended 35 leaders who are contesting the elections against the party's official candidates. The majority of the suspended candidates belong to the Chambal, Bundelkhand, and Malwa-Nimar regions.

The action came a day after the opposition Congress terminated its 39 leaders, including six MLAs, for anti-party activity.

The list includes former ministers and MLAs.

The party suspended Rustom Singh, a former minister from Morena, KK Shrivastav, a former MLA from the Tikamgarh constituency, Harshan Vardhan Chouhan, the son of BJP's former state president Nandkumar Chouhan, the sitting BJP MLA from Sidhi, Kedarnath Shukla, and others.

Former IPS officer and Health Minister of BJP in MP Rustom Singh lost to Congress' Raghuraj Singh Kansana in 2018. But after Raghuraj Singh Kansana, a Scindia loyalist, switched over to the BJP in 2020 and was fielded as the candidate for the bypolls when he lost to Congress's Rakesh Mavai. Now, hopeful for a ticket in 2023, Rustom Singh was in for a rude shock when the BJP once again reposed their faith in Raghuraj Singh Kansaha. This pushed Rustom Singh to join the BSP and pitted his son Rakesh Singh for the Morena Assembly polls.

Whereas, three-time Sidhi MLA Kedarnath Shukla, contesting as an independent candidate against BJP's Riti Pathak, was removed from the party. After his name surfaced in the Sidhi urination incident, the party dropped his candidature but he chose to contest the election.

The party also suspended Madhya Pradesh's former state president Nandkumar Chouhan's son, Harshvarhan Chouhan, who was demanding a ticket from the Burhanpur Assembly seat. The BJP has fielded former minister Archna Chitnis, and the Congress incumbent independent MLA, Surendra Singh Shera.

After the death of Khandwa MP Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan last year, son Harshvardhan was a contender for the ticket in the Lok Sabha by-election, but the BJP had fielded Dnyaneshwar Patil. When Harshvardhan was denied Assembly tickets as well, he rebelled against the party.

A party insider said that these rebel leaders would have disturbed the party's carefully carved caste balance in closely contested elections, especially in Vindhya and Bundelkhand regions. Many senior leaders, including Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan, have been roped in to pacify the rebel leaders, but they succeeded in some but failed in many.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was on a three-day tour to Madhya Pradesh, also tried to pacify the rebels and managed to placate around 15-20 rebels during his recent three-day tour of the state, said a leader. However, some prominent names have refused to back down.

As far as the Congress is concerned, the party suspended 39 leaders who have upped their arms against the party after they were denied tickets.

The leaders suspended by the Congress for six years against anti-party activity include former MLA Prem Chand Guddu, Antar Singh Darbar, and others from the primary membership of the party. Guddu is contesting from the Alot Assembly seat of Ujjain while Darbar is contesting from the Mhow Assembly seat.

Guddu, a former parliamentarian who was pitted against Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist Tulsiram Silawat from Sanwer Assembly seat of Indore in the 2020 by-polls, is contesting as an independent candidate from the Alot seat this time. It happened when the Congress fielded Guddu's daughter from the Sanwer seat, who lost the by-polls by a huge margin.

Some of the prominent names include former MLA Yadvendra Singh (Nagod), state party spokesman Ajay Singh Yadav (Khargapur), Nasir Islam, and Amir Aqueel from Bhopal North -- a traditional Congress seat dominated by Muslim voters. The party has given a ticket to six-time MLA Arif Aqueel's son Atif Aqueel. Amir is the brother of six-time MLA Arif Aqueel, while Nasir was a corporator in the Bhopal Municipal Corporation.

An official communique issued by the Congress says, "As per the instructions of state Congress president Kamal Nath, the following are expelled from the membership of the Congress for six years with immediate effect for contesting the Assembly elections in 2023 as independent and other parties in opposition to the authorized candidates of Congress."

The party not only expelled those leaders who were contesting on those seats which the party lost in 2018 but also on those which they won in the last polls.

Action was taken against those leaders who refused to back down despite the assurance from the party leaders, says an insider. Congress managed to pacify around 25 rebels but remained unsuccessful on 39 seats.

"After the declaration of the ticket in the third week of October, over half a dozen leaders have been tasked to pacify the rebel leaders," said a party leader. "Those leaders who keep their self-interest before the party have no place in the party when we are fighting to protect the country and its constitution threatened by the ruling BJP."

Both parties were successful in persuading some rebels to withdraw, but there are still tough contenders in the race.

The elections for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly will be held on November 17. While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is striving to remain at the helm, the opposition Congress is endeavoring to push the saffron party out of power.