Umaria: Supporters of senior BJP leader Gyan Singh, the sitting MP from Shahdol, protested the party’s decision to drop him and give ticket for the April May Lok Sabha polls to Himadri Singh. Himadri Singh had joined the BJP from the Congress recently and was promptly fielded by the former from Shahdol (ST) seat.
A huge number of Gyan Singh supporters assembled at Ramlila Maidan here on Sunday demanding that the BJP reverse its decision. “A person who has served the party since 1977 is being denied a ticket while someone who joined the party few days ago is being nominated. If the party does not change its decision, then Gyan Singh will contest from Shahdol as an independent candidate and defeat Himadri Singh,” said protesting BJP worker Krishna Pal Singh.
Another worker, Ravi Vishwakarma, called Himadri Singh a “parachute” candidate. Himadri Singh is the daughter of late Congress leader Dalbir Singh. Both her father and mother Rajesh Nandini Singh were former Congress MPs from Shahdol. Incidentally, Gyan Singh had defeated Himadri Singh from Shahdol (ST) by a margin of 16,000 votes in a bypoll in 2016. The 2016 bypoll was necessitated by the death of sitting MP Dalpat Singh Paraste.
BJP sources said she got the ticket for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls after she joined the party post her marriage to BJP leader Narendra Maravi. Gyan Singh won the Lok Sabha polls from Shahdol in 1996, 1998 and and in the 2016 bypoll.
