New Delhi : Despite the BJP and Congress making efforts to convince some of their rebel candidates to withdraw from the electoral race, many have opted to remain in the contest as the nomination withdrawal deadline has come to a close.
The deadline passed on Thursday, with some rebel candidates from both parties choosing to persist as independent candidates after being denied tickets by their respective political parties, the Congress and the ruling BJP. This has intensified the electoral competition. Importantly, in several constituencies, these rebels have close family ties to both the BJP and Congress.
The Congress leadership successfully persuaded around a dozen and a half of their rebel workers to withdraw their nominations, providing some relief to the party’s official candidates. However, nearly a dozen assembly seats remain embroiled in this issue.
One example is Antar Singh Darbar, a two-time Congress MLA, who chose not to withdraw his nomination from the Dr. Ambedkar Nagar-Mhow Assembly constituency and instead announced his departure from the party. Darbar, disappointed after being denied a ticket by the Congress, filed papers as an independent candidate on October 29. The Congress, on the other hand, fielded Ramkishore Shukla. Kamal Nath, the state Congress chief, successfully coaxed Shukla back into the party last month after he had briefly left to join the BJP.
Senior leaders from both the BJP and Congress, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, State Congress President Kamal Nath, and Digvijaya Singh, have held numerous meetings with their respective discontented leaders in an effort to pacify them and bring them back into the parties.
However, both parties continue to face the challenge posed by rebel candidates in nearly 30 seats each. At least five influential BJP rebels and six Congress rebels are still actively participating in the polls as independent candidates or representing smaller parties, aiming to disrupt the chances of the BJP and Congress official candidates.
Among these rebels are Harshwardhan Singh Chouhan, a BJP member and son of former MP and State BJP chief Nandkumar Singh Chouhan, who is contesting from the Burhanpur seat of Burhanpur district. Harshvardhan, disheartened by the party’s choice of former state Minister Archana Chitnis for the seat, also resigned from the party’s primary membership on Thursday.
Another notable rebel is former Tikamgarh MLA K.K. Shrivastav, who is still in the contest from the seat and is expected to impact the prospects of the party’s official candidate and sitting MLA Rakesh Giri.
In the Bhopal Uttar (North) seat, two Congress rebels—Amir Aqeel and Nasir Islam—are contesting as independent candidates, aiming to hinder the party’s chances in a constituency it has held since 1993. Arif Aqeel, who has been the MLA since 1998, isn’t contesting this time, and the Congress has nominated his son Atif Aqeel for the constituency. Amir Aqeel, who has been active in politics alongside his brother, and Nasir Islam, said to be close to Digvijaya Singh, left the party to contest the polls. The BJP has nominated former city Mayor Alok Sharma for the seat.
Furthermore, Congress rebels and independent candidates, including former MLA Shekhar Choudhary and former MLA Om Prakash Raghuvanshi, have chosen not to withdraw their nominations on the last day, adding a layer of complexity to the electoral landscape.
