MP By-Polls: Denied Ticket, BJP Heavyweight Narottam Mishra Relents, Backs Party Candidate
Mr. Mishra was seriously upset at being denied ticket for the by-elections for which he had begun preparations six months ago: Reports
RAIPUR: Peeved at being denied party ticket for the July 30 by-elections to Datia Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, BJP heavyweight and six-time MLA Narottam Mishra has finally given in to the pressure by the state leadership, and declared that he would extend his ‘whole-hearted support’ to the official party candidate Ashutosh Tiwari in the polls.
Mr. Mishra was seriously upset at being denied ticket for the by-elections for which he had begun preparations six months ago, and it took a long session with the state leadership for him to come to the terms with it.
Denial of ticket to him by the party had triggered his supporters in Datia to virtually lay siege to the town for around 11 hours demanding roll back of the party decision to choose debutant Ashutosh Tiwari over him to contest in the by-elections.
Worried over the development, Mr. Mishra was summoned to Bhopal for a meeting with the state leadership ‘to sort out’ the issue.
He had a long meeting with chief minister Mohan Yadav, state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal and senior BJP leader Ajey Jamwal here late on Saturday night.
Although, it is yet to be known what transpired in the meeting, Mr. Mishra however declared his support to Mr. Tiwari in the by-elections after the meeting.
“Party is above everything. I was born in BJP and will die in BJP”, he asserted, indicating resolution of the issue.
Mr. Khandelwal later said that the party workers in Datia will work for the victory of BJP candidate Mr. Tiwari in the polls.
In a related development, former Union minister Uma Bharti on Sunday hailed Mr. Mishra’s declaration to support the party candidate in the by-elections, saying that it manifested his large-heartedness.
Mr. Mishra had won Assembly elections three times in Dabra seat in 1990, 1998, and 2003 and shifted his constituency to Datia in 2008 after Dabra was declared a reserved constituency.
He had won consecutively for three times in the Datia seat in 2008, 2013 and 2018 Assembly polls.
He however lost the Assembly polls in Datia in 2023 to Congress candidate Rajendra Bharti who was disqualified from the House after being convicted by a Delhi court in a bank fraud case recently, leading to the July 30 by-elections to the Datia Assembly seat.
In another development, Congress has declared Ghanashyam Singh, a member of the ex-royal family of Datia and former MLA, as its candidate for the by-polls.
