Madhya Pradesh: Datia By-Poll Defeat: BJP Panel To Review Loss

The decision by the state BJP leadership to review the reverses suffered by the party at the by-election, on Tuesday, just a day after the result of the by-poll was declared, clearly establishes the seriousness shown by it over the development.

Chief minister Mohan Yadav on Tuesday convened a meeting of senior BJP leaders including state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal and others who were given key charges in the by-elections, to review the defeat of the party candidate Ashutosh Tiwari.

“The meeting deliberated at length the election management by the party and shortcomings in poll strategy and also a possible internal sabotage, leading to the defeat of the party in the polls”, a senior party leader who attended the meeting told this newspaper, unwilling to be quoted.

The BJP constituted a two-member committee to probe the defeat.

The sharp rural-urban and male-female voting gaps witnessed in the by-elections was discussed in the meeting to find out the reasons for the ‘unusual’ pattern, he added.

Surprisingly, the urban polling in the by-election recorded 62 percent as against the ruling polling of around 78 percent.

The comparatively low polling in urban areas, considered a BJP bastion, has hit the prospect of the party in the by-elections, sources said.

This apart, the Congress campaign which harped on the disruptions in the fertilizer supply in the ongoing agriculture operations may have caught the imagination of the rural voters leading to rise in the voter turnouts in the rural Datia, which may have benefitted the grand old party in the polls, the party functionary said.

“We were confident of taking unassailable leads over Congress in the last three rounds of counting to emerge victorious in the by-elections. That’s why we were not bothered even though Congress was leading by over 12,000 votes over BJP after the 12^th round of counting. But the last three rounds of counting could only reduce the gap by 6,000 votes which was much below our expectations”, the BJP leader has revealed.

The last three rounds of counting involved mainly urban votes, sources said.

Another factor that worried the BJP poll strategists is that the party fell short by around 6,000 votes as compared to votes polled by the winning Congress candidate Ghanashyam Singh despite a whopping over 22,000 votes secured by the Azad Samaj Party candidate Damodar Yadav who was reportedly expected to eat into the votes of Congress in both urban and rural areas.

In fact, the Congress had alleged that the ASP candidate was covertly backed by the BJP.

“Had Mr. Yadav not been fielded in the by-elections, the defeat margin for the BJP would have been between 15,000- 20,000 votes ”, a senior BJP leader said, requesting not to be quoted.

The review meeting, also attended by deputy chief minister Jagdish Dewda, also discussed the role played by some councilors of the local civic body which harmed the prospects of the party in the by-elections.

The denial of the party ticket to Mr. Mishra had angered his loyalists in the constituency. But Mr. Mishra later campaigned for the party’s official candidate Mr. Tiwari who cried internal sabotage.

“What worries the BJP leadership in the state is the defeat of the party despite a good poll strategy in such a high-profile poll. This is a wake-up call for the party keeping in view the 2028 Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh”, the BJP leader said.

The Congress had also been hit by alleged internal sabotage, leading to suspension of former party MLA Rajendra Bharti.

Mr. Bharti whose conviction in a court necessitated the by-polls had openly accused party candidate Mr. Singh of being a beneficiary of the largesse by Mr. Mishra.

The chief minister however sought to put up a brave front by saying that Datia was a Congress seat and it had gone to the party.

But the victory margin for the Congress this time was reduced by around 1700 votes, he said.

Congress has retained the seat by defeating BJP by 6,016 votes.