The BJP on Friday announced Ashutosh Tiwari as its candidate for the Datia assembly elections, a decision that has angered Mishra’s supporters.
Supporters of former Madhya Pradesh home minister and BJP leader Narottam Mishra staged protests on Friday and Saturday over the ruling party’s decision to nominate Ashutosh Tiwari as its candidate for the next Datia assembly by polls, replacing Mishra, who contested and lost the seat in 2023.
Congress leader Rajendra Bharti had defeated Mishra, who was the state home minister at the time, by more than 7,500 votes in the 2023 Lok Sabha elections.
However, in April this year, a Delhi court sentenced Bharti to three years in prison in a cheating case, disqualifying him from the MLA post and leading to by-elections. He was later granted bail.
Protest against lack of ticket to Narottam Mishra
The decision to nominate Tiwari in the by-election came as a huge disappointment to Mishra, who had expected to be selected as the candidate and had already purchased a nomination form, PTI reported, citing party sources.
More than 3,000 protesters blocked the NH-44 for about 12 hours, injuring the Datia Superintendent of Police and several other police personnel before security forces removed the protesters and arrested some of them, officials told the news agency.
A supporter said they will not withdraw the protest unless Narottam Dada gets the ticket and added that they are ready to quit the BJP over the issue.
Collector Datia Swapnil Wankhede told reporters that angry supporters blocked the national highway for nearly 11-12 hours. He added that despite repeated requests to open the road, they threw stones at the police, prompting them to fire tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd.
He added that Datia SP and other senior officers and police personnel were injured during the violence. Wankhede also said the protesters damaged police vehicles and other vehicles.
Datia SP Mayur Khandelwal said more than 3,000 protesters violated law and order in Datia town, tried to shut down markets and continued to block the road for about 12 hours. He said that more than 6 police officers were injured in stone throwing.
The senior officer said: “We tried to calm them down under the pretext of implementing the model code of conduct in the town. But after they refused to back down and threw stones, the police fired tear gas shells to control the situation.”
The Socialist Party said some protesters had been arrested and warned that strict action would be taken if they turned violent again.
Following Friday’s development, several party officials, including the district unit president and local corporators, resigned from the BJP in protest, PTI reported citing sources.
Data collection by polling
The Election Commission recently announced the schedule for bypolls in 3 assembly constituencies across the country, including Datia. The other two assembly seats are in Bihar and Gujarat.
The BJP on Friday announced Ashutosh Tiwari as its candidate for the Datia assembly elections, a decision that has angered Mishra’s supporters.
Polling is scheduled to take place on July 30, while the counting of votes will take place on August 3, according to the schedule.
With input from agencies
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