Bhopal: By choosing Shankar Dayal Tripathi as its candidate, ignoring the counsel of the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the state party chief Nandkumar Singh Chouhan, the BJP seems to have placed the Congress in an advantageous position in the Chitrakoot assembly by-elections. The Congress candidate Nilanshu Chaturvedi, it is widely perceived, would give the BJP nominee a run for his money.
Even the minister for industries Rajendra Shukla, who is election in-charge for the BJP, was not in favour of fielding Tripathi. However, Tripathi was backed by state organisational general secretary Suhas Bhagat, co-organisational general secretary Atul Rai and MP Ganesh Singh. And they ultimately had their way.
The candidates of both the parties filed their nomination papers on Monday. Neither PCC chief Arun Yadav nor leader of opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Ajay Singh was present when the Congress candidate filed his papers. The BJP candidate was accompanied by Nandkumar, ministers Rajendra Shukla and Omprakash Dhurvey and state general secretary V D Sharma, among others.
The by-polls, necessitated by the death of Congress MLA Prem Singh, are issueless and that makes the choice of candidate even more important. And here, the BJP candidate is lagging behind his rival. His political stature is not as high as that of the Congress nominee and he will be joining the electoral battle unprepared.
Former MLA Surendra Singh Gaharwar, who was the strongest claimant for BJP nomination, is said to be angry with the party for choosing Tripathi. Gaharwar is said to have a considerable hold in the area and his resentment may cost the party dear.
Ajay Singh will be leading the Congress’ poll effort while Rajendra Shukla will be the BJP’s chief campaigner and strategist. As the BJP candidate is weak, the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may travel to Chitrakoot to campaign for him after his return from the US.
