Rebellion in the party ranks after ticket distribution is perhaps a common phenomenon. But BJP chief Amit Shah is not taking any chances with a crucial State like Bihar.
As the BJP faces open allegations from the likes of the >former Home Secretary and party MP from Ara R.K. Singh that criminals have got party ticket , Mr. Shah is heading to Patna on Tuesday to cool tempers. The central team deputed for the polls in Bihar will also be with him on this exercise.
The damage control mission is all the more important because Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing his first rally after the announcement of poll dates in Bihar on October 2.
Sources said that Mr. Shah, who calls the shots on poll campaign strategy, has decided that the party will, once again, depend on the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Leaders in revolt are being told to rally around PM
As BJP president Amit Shah was expected to go to Patna on Tuesday to douse fires in the party over ticket distribution, a source said: “There is a lot of resentment. Many senior people have been disregarded and, as was done in several previous elections, newcomers and crossovers from other parties have been given ticket.”
“This situation can be likened to U.p. in 2014, when there was similar resentment after allies like Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel were handed seats to which local party leaders felt they had a strong claim. That time too, district units were in open rebellion but it was quelled using a combination of Amit Shah’s stick and Narendra Modi’s carrot policy,” said a source close to the BJP president.
The BJP then won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in U.P. The party is hoping for a repeat in Bihar with several borrowed candidates and a heavy dependence on Mr. Modi. “Mr. Modi will be in Bihar every second day for a rally or a meeting, and there will be no other face from the party. Leaders in revolt are being told that they need to unite around the Prime Minister’s political appeal,” said the source.
In Bihar, reports of entire district units in places like Muzzaffarpur having quit made the headlines, though the party in Delhi maintains that all is well.Party MP from Ara >R.K. Singh, who alleged that the party had given ticket to candidates with a criminal background>, reiterated in an interview to a local newspaper in Patna that he would not campaign for any such candidate.
The party is naturally unhappy and Mr. Shah’s mission in Patna will be to put an end to such public articulation.
