Bhopal: Rebellion brewed within the ranks of the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress on Friday, the last date of filing nominations for the assembly elections in the state. In a shocking incident, former district general secretary of Congress in Gwalior, Prem Singh Kushwah consumed poison after he was denied ticket by the party in the upcoming assembly elections in the state. He was admitted to Jaya Arogya Hospital and is said to be in critical condition.
Kushwah was demanding ticket from Gwalior East or Gwalior South seats but after his name did not figure in the candidates’ list, he reached the statue of late Madhav Rao Scindia near the Gwalior fort and consumed poison. He accused the Congress of offering tickets to outsiders. Kushwah is battling for his life in the hospital.
Meanwhile, in Bhopal, two former BJP MLAs—Brahmananad and Jitendra Daga rebelled against the party while filing nomination as independent candidates from Berasia and Huzur respectively. Daga is a close aide of MEA Sushma Swaraj and was given a ticket in 2008 but was denied re-nomination in 2013 after his name appeared in the Bhopal Development Authority CEO BD Rusiya’s death case.
In another major development, former agriculture minister Ramkrishna Kusmaria and BJP leader, filed nomination as an independent from Patharia seat. Dissident BJP leader, Dr Rashmi Singh Patel also filed nomination as an independent from Naugaud in Satna.
Congress leader Ram Babu Sharma submitted nomination as an independent from Govindpura in Bhopal while Corporator Md Saood also of the Congress, filed nomination as an independent.
Among the prominent turncoats is former BJP veteran leader Sartaj Singh who filed nomination as a Congress candidate in Hoshangabad on Friday. However, political rivalry was briefly set aside when the assembly speaker, BJP’s Sitasaran Sharma, who is also contesting from the seat, touched Singh’s feet and sought blessings.
Senior party leader and former chairman of Indore Development Authority Lalit Porwal filed nomination as an independent, asking where the workers who had been with the party for over thirty years would go.
The BJP is also facing massive unrest on Indore-1 and Mhow.
BJP rebels leaders – Kanchan Singh Chauhan and Ahsihs Maseeh submitted papers in Mhow as independent candidates. Ramprakash Yadav of Congress too filed nomination from Indore-5 as an independent candidate. Bhagwan and Raghvendra Sharma filed papers as independent candidates in Gwalior South after being denied ticket from Congress.
Many leaders have already rebelled against BJP and Congress and have filed nominations as independents. In all, 21 canndidates have filed nominations from Budni, the seat represented by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
BJP candidates filed nominations in the presence of senior party leaders and CM Shivraj, who was present when the party candidates gathered in Bhopal before submitting their nomination papers.
According to the publicity department of the MP government, 2,800 nominations were filed in the state on Friday. Maximum number of candidates submitted nomination papers in Rewa (162), which was followed by Satna with 156 nominations. Meanwhile, 105 candidates filed nominations for seven assembly seats in Bhopal. Agar Malwa saw the least number of nominations in MP at 26.