- Amit Shah not affected by noise of dissatisfied leaders, party will try its best to convince angry leaders, but due to this reason, process of ticket distribution will not be stopped
- Possibility of BJP’s second list coming before first list of Congress
- Kamal Nath will also have to deal with the uproar after release of list
Milind Muzumdar, Indore
BJP had released its first list on August 17, in which 39 candidates were declared. This list created a ruckus. Out of these, the party is facing a huge rebellion on 16 seats. The discipline of the party is clearly visible; the workers are doing all the things like taking out processions, demonstrations, burning effigies which come under the category of indiscipline.
In view of the large-scale rebellion, it seemed that BJP’s key strategist, Union Minister Amit Shah, would postpone the process of ticket distribution till the election notification is issued, but in Amit Shah’s style, politics of pressure and blackmailing does not work at all. Rather it has the opposite effect. This is the reason why all the BJP leaders have been trying for the second list for the last three days.
Sources say that the party is in a position to release the second list of 64 candidates soon. As soon as Amit Shah gets the green signal, the party will release its list. Amit Shah has clearly told the leaders of the state that every possible effort should be made to pacify the dissatisfied and angry workers, but the work of the organization and the ticket distribution process should not be affected due to resentment and protests. This is the reason why leaders like Kailash Vijayvargiya and Narendra Singh Tomar have given clear signals to the workers that the way they are trying to put pressure on the organization by rebelling, is not going to make any difference. It is clear from Amit Shah’s attitude that the party will make minimum changes in its list due to pressure. The basis of this change will not be displeasure, but the feedback of migrant MLAs.
Sources say that along with Union Ministers Bhupendra Yadav, Narendra Singh Tomar, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Vishnu Dutt Sharma, Hitanand, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has continuously discussed the list of defeated candidates in the 2018 elections. The list has been finalised. The BJP is in a position to release the second list before the first list of the Congress comes. Congress is also preparing to release the first list. Kamal Nath’s secretariat has completed its exercise on 100 seats. Kamal Nath wants that by declaring candidates for 100 seats, the BJP should be shaken. Kamal Nath’s supporters believe that after the release of the list of BJP, the same scene will be seen after the release of the list of Congress, but seeing the history of factionalism in Congress, there will be more rebellion. Sources say that most of the names in the Congress list will be of sitting MLAs. While the BJP is going to declare the candidates in its second list only on the defeated i.e. aspiring seats.
Problem of factionalism in both parties
Leaders of both Congress and BJP are seeing power in 2023. Nowadays political service is not done for dedication but professionally. Politics is considered a career. Leaders think that even if they don’t get tickets, politics shines through name-calling. On the strength of the publicity they get by making claims, the leaders get contracts and permits for 5 years. This is the reason that both the parties are fighting for the ticket. As far as factionalism is concerned, ever since the BJP became the natural contender for power, it has been rapidly Congressized. While factionalism has been in the Congress since its inception (1885). Earlier factions were formed in the Congress on the basis of ideology. Like soft party and hot party. The soft party had leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji, Pandit Motilal Nehru, Chakravati Rajagopalachari, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya while the hot party had leaders like Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal.
Later, this division started happening on the basis of leftist, socialist and rightist i.e. nationalist ideology. Among the leftist, socialist leaders of Congress were leaders like Lok Narayan, Jai Prakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. Later these leaders separated from Congress and formed Praja Socialist Party. Similarly, among the right wing or nationalist leaders were leaders like Dr. Kanhaiyalal Maniklal Munshi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Govind Ballabh Pant, Yashwantrao Chauhan, Sardar Buta Singh. After Mrs. Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister, this factionalism started happening due to vested interests. There is a similar factional division in Indore as well. In the politics of state Congress, mainly camps of Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath are there. Old Congress leaders believe that the party’s survey is just a show.
The ticket is given to that candidate whose leader is able to get the ticket. Such Congressmen believe that the first list of the party will also be based on factionalism. The way Digvijay Singh has been taken in the CWC. It is certain that his supporters will get a good number of tickets. There is a problem of factionalism in BJP also. Here too, leaders like Sumitra Tai, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Narendra Singh Tomar, Vishnu Dutt Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia have different supporters. However, BJP’s factionalism is at the local level and can be easily met out when the time comes. Since BJP is a worker-based party, the top men of the organization easily establish coordination among the leaders, but Congress faces difficulty in this regard.
