[dropcap]A[/dropcap]head of elections in five states where BJP is trying its luck by all means, the party workers are seem unhappy with the dictatorial attitude of party president Amit Shah. Outside Shah’s residence in Delhi, several buses arrived and spewed crowds of supporters carrying what appeared to be party posters. They were shouting loud slogans. Despite, Shah’s warning to party men not to lobby for or protest against candidates for next month’s state elections, the BJP is facing minor mutinies several times a day. Earlier also we had seen this type of protest when Amit Shah forced to parachute Kiran Bedi and inducted her in BJP and made her CM candidates when local workers were doing their ground work well. For more than two hours, Delhi BJP leaders vented their anguish over the party leadership’s strategy in the run-up to the elections. Nearly three dozen reasons, including announcing Kiran Bedi as chief ministerial candidate, were spelt out as they analysed the causes behind the humiliating defeat.
None in the BJP had that time predicted that it will be reduced to three seats. The state unit has been asked to strengthen its local network and come back with feedback from ground. Besides the fact that Bedi was imposed on them just three weeks ahead of the election, the leaders grudged the delay in announcement of candidates, Bedi was not present at the meeting. Even in Bihar, BJP lost miserably due to Amit Shah and his flawed strategy. In 2014, somehow Modi waves brought good mandate for the party but there after nothing is going well within and outside the party. BJP president Amit Shah is upset with the differences cropping up among the leadership of the party’s Delhi unit after announcement of new office bearers.
The workers too are unhappy with the dictatorial working style of Shah. Many preferred to stay away, than take his orders. BJP vice-president and Delhi in-charge Shyam Jaju and state unit president Manoj Tiwari are on different pitch over the new team announced, as some of the names recommend by Tiwari were struck down by the state in-charge. Tiwari was given charge looking at the elections in UP but that has really affected the morale of the grassroot leaders.
For the upcoming municipal elections and the possible by-elections to 22 Assembly seats, all the BJP workers will have to dedicate three months for the party so that it may win the civic polls and start the process of Kejriwal government’s downfall.
The protesters reached in groups were the first group was from Dhaulana town in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP has named Ramesh Chandra Tomar as its candidate. YP Singh was the party’s choice in the previous polls. His supporters loudly and relentlessly tried to seize Mr. Shah’s attention. They are angry that Tomar, a turn-coat, has been named BJP candidate. Mr. Tomar won the seat in the previous 2012 state polls as a Samajwadi Party candidate, reducing the BJP’s YP Singh to a poor third. The BJP is seen to be betting on caste equations by fielding Tomar. The second group of “rebels” was from Amroha, also in UP. The protesters shouted slogans for Devendra Nagpal, who says he has been denied a chance in the Naugavan constituency. The BJP has chosen ex-cricketer Chetan Chauhan, who represented the Amroha parliamentary seat long ago but is now being dubbed as an “outsider” by Nagpal’s loyalists.
Tarsem Singh, a BJP worker holding a protest placard said the local BJP’s views was not considered. Meanwhile, many believe that Chauhan has no chance of winning as he has not been in Amroha since his term as MP has ended. The protestor alleges that the party has set up a walkover for the Samajwadi Party’s Mehboob, a four-term MP, by choosing Chauhan. In the last three days, at least 10 groups have challenged the choices made by the party’s central election committee headed by Amit Shah, which includes Narendra Modi. The incessant protests reflect that the party’s effort to add leaders from rival parties is backfiring and also threatens to upset caste calculations. Another group of protestors from UP were assured that the party will not field a turncoat from Noida, like in the case of Dadri and Jewar. In Dadri, the BJP is fielding Tejpal Nagar, 58, and in Jewar, 50-year-old Dhirendra Singh is the candidate. They both were recruited recently. Due to the unrest in these two seats, the party has delayed naming a candidate in Noida.
Amit Shah needs to realize, every day is not Sunday. If the voice of grassroots level and loyal workers is ignored, BJP will surely loose UP. Since 2012, Modi-Shah combination has been dictating like kings, holding all powers to themselves. The days are not far away, when the people will let them know the power of local and grassroots level party workers. Meanwhile, an advice to the BJP’s top brass is that, ‘Jo dikta hai, wohi bikta hai.’
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