MP Assembly Polls: Shah Holds Discussion with BJP Rebels to Control Damage

Bhopal: Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday launched efforts to pacify the BJP leaders who turned rebel after being denied party tickets in the November 17 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh.

Mr Shah held ‘one-to-one’ meetings with the dissidents in Indore in Madhya Pradesh to persuade them to withdraw their nominations against the official party candidates in their respective assembly constituencies and work for the victory of the party in the November 17 polls in the state.

He held discussions with the senior BJP leader and former minister Ranjana Baghel who filed nomination as an independent candidate in Manwar assembly seat in Dhar district and persuaded her to withdraw her nomination.

Ms Baghel has turned rebel after the party gave ticket to Shivraj Kannauj in the seat.

Mr Shah also met senior party leaders Rajiv Yadav and Harsh Vardhan Chouhan who were aspirants for tickets for Dhar and Burhanpur assembly seats respectively, and appealed to them to work for the victory of the party candidates.

Earlier in the morning, he held a meeting with the party leaders and workers hailing from 29 assembly seats in Malwa region and took feedback on the rebellion in the party in the region.

Sources said that Mr Shah invited some senior leaders of the party who turned rebels to Delhi for further discussion to pacify them to work for the party in the elections.

State party president V D Sharma was present on the occasion.

He later visited Gwalior to launch a similar damage control exercise to pacify party leaders.

Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Jyotiraditya Scindia were present on the occasion.

Mr Shah had held meetings with the party leaders hailing from Mahakoshal, Gwalior-Chambal, Malwa and Baghelkhand regions at different places in the state to get feedback on the ground situation in each of the 230 assembly constituencies in the state, during his three-day visit to the state which ended on Monday.