BJP has nominated 18 Scindia supporters out of 25 who joined the party in 2020, but discontent has surfaced.
Though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated 18 of Jyotiraditya Scindia’s supporters out of 25 who crossed over with him from the Congress to the BJP in early 2020, there is a significant amount of discontent among Scindia’s followers as far as securing Assembly election tickets for loyalists is concerned.
Previously, before the announcement of the candidates’ name, a tense situation could be seen in the Scindia camp as they were reeling from infighting in the faction-ridden state BJP unit.
Several of his loyalists, including legislators who crossed over with him from the Congress to the BJP in early 2020, remained at odds with the BJP seniors, and in recent months, several, along with their supporters, had returned to the Congress fold.
The BJP’s move has put an end to all the speculation ahead of the Assembly election that the BJP would side-line Scindia’s supporters, who crossed over the party with him in 2020. Although the BJP had nominated 18 supporters out of 25, the move has generated significant discontent among Scindia’s followers. Some of them have resorted to writing letters to Scindia in their own blood as a form of protest, while others have staged demonstrations by lying down in front of Scindia’s car outside his residence.
This situation has increased Scindia’s problem, as a few of his supporters are protesting because their names were not announced by the BJP, while others remain silent on the matter. Keeping this in view, Scindia has explicitly conveyed to his supporters that he made every possible effort to secure tickets for all of them, but the final decision rests in the party’s hands, and they must respect the party’s decision.
In response to the BJP’s action, a political analyst said that although Jyotiraditya Scindia was not the party’s nominee in this election, the party has other plans for him, but he still managed to secure tickets for the majority of his supporters, though his supporters need to win their seats for him, as it was important for Scindia’s political future. If his backers underperform, there’s a high possibility that his political career may be in jeopardy.
Scindia’s key loyalists who followed him as he switched to the BJP—18 incumbent MLAs—have been repeated by the BJP. This list includes Pradyuman Singh Tomar, Tulsi Silavat, Rajvardhan Singh Dattigoan, Prabhuram Chaudhary, Govind Singh Rajput, Bisahulal Singh,Hardeep Singh Dang, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Pradyuman Singh Lodhi, Suresh Dhakad, Kamlesh Jatav, Jaipal Singh Jajji, Manoj Chaudhary, and Narayen Patel. Brijendra Singh Yadav.
Not only this, the BJP had also nominated three of Sciendia’s loyalists who had lost the 2020 by-elections following their defection. This includes Imarti Devi, Adil Singh Kansana, and Raghuraj Singh Kansana.
However, at the same time, many of Scindia’s supporters are not being nominated by the BJP despite winning the 2020 bypolls; this list includes ministers O.P.S. Bhadoria, Munna Lal Goyal, Raksha Sanoria, and others.
In the meantime, the Congress has also nominated some of Scindia’s supporters who left the BJP to return to the grand old party. They include Bodhi Singh Bhagat, Samandar Patel Jawad, and Baijnath Yadav, who edged out the sitting MLA, and ex-Scindia loyalist Virendra Raghuvanshi.