Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has failed to contain rebellion in the ruling party with some party members becoming rebels after being denied ticket in the urban local bodies elections.
At several places, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are opposing the party's official candidates in the upcoming local bodies elections. Unable to rein in this rebellion, BJP leaders are keeping mum because some of party's MPs and MLAs are angry that their relatives have not been given tickets for the polls while relatives of some influential ministers are contesting the municipal elections.
In view of this growing dissent, BJP's state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary has warned that if the rebels do not fall in line, action will be taken against them. The MPs, MLAs and party officials have been asked to control the rebellion.
“It is clear that the BJP is not able to control its members. With rebels openly defying the party, it remains to be seen how the party will fare in the upcoming polls,” a senior BJP leader said.
Some old members of the party are questioning how two sisters of Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Dinesh Khatik, were given tickets for the chairperson’s posts despite the party’s decision that no ticket would be given to any relative of ministers, MPs and MLAs.
Bharatiya Janata Party has made Dinesh Khatik's sister Varsha Mogha a candidate for the chairperson’s post from Sarsawa in Saharanpur. Earlier, Varsha's husband, Vijendra Mogha, was the chairperson.
It is alleged that the minister ensured a ticket to one sister in Hastinapur and gave another sister, Sudha Devi, a ticket for the chairperson’s post in Meerut.
Party sources say that Satyadev Pachauri, the BJP MP from Kanpur, was also seeking a ticket for his daughter, Neetu Singh, but the party made the former mayor of Kanpur Nagar, Pramila Pandey, a candidate for that seat. Since then, Pachauri has distanced himself from the party’s events.
Similarly, the BJP has made Sangeeta, wife of Brajesh Singh, a candidate for the Vajirganj Nagar Panchayat. Offended, two wives of a local MLA's close associates, Shankulata and Mamta, have filed nominations.
This is not an isolated incident as senior leaders in the party have also been publicly opposing each other. Two senior ministers of the party have opened a front against each other in Prayagraj. The cause of their disagreement is the inclusion of Rais Shukla, who was formerly with the Samajwadi Party, in the BJP. Shukla had contested against cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ in the previous elections without informing him. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya brought Shukla into the party, which has made Nandi angry.
Similarly, in several cities such as Bareilly, Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddharth Nagar, Unnao and Ghaziabad, rebel leaders are trying to sabotage the party's prospects by disrupting the party's organisation.
In Shahjahanpur, party leaders are unhappy because a mayoral candidate from the SP has been inducted into the party just four hours before the nomination deadline and announced as BJP candidate.
According to some party leaders, this is an attempt by Cabinet Minister Suresh Khanna to improve his image by foisting a SP candidate on the party, which he can then win on his own.
Meanwhile, Abhishek Mishra, the BJP district president in Ayodhya, has expressed his displeasure at the party's functioning. In a meeting, he criticised the party for ignoring the grassroots workers and promoting outsiders.
This infighting within the BJP has raised concerns about the party's ability to perform well in the upcoming elections. It remains to be seen how the party leadership will address these issues and maintain unity among party members.
