Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 11: Supporters of the BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra clashed with police and blocked the national highway on Saturday after the party denied him a ticket to contest an Assembly byelection from Datia.
The nearly 12-hour blockade on NH-44 by over 3,000 protesters left the Datia Superintendent of Police and several police personnel injured before security forces cleared the highway and arrested some agitators, officials said. The ruling BJP on Friday had announced the candidature of Ashutosh Tiwari for the Datia Assembly bypoll, angering Mr Mishra’s supporters.
Enraged workers staged a blockade on the national highway for close to 11-12 hours, and despite asking them to clear the road, they pelted stones on the police, forcing the cops to fire teargas shells to disperse the mob, Datia Collector Swapnil Wankhede told reporters.
The Datia SP, other senior officers and jawans suffered injuries, he said, clarifying that the police did not cane-charge the protesters. Mr Wankhede said the angry mob damaged police and other vehicles, but the road was subsequently cleared, and the situation was brought under control.
The SP Mayur Khandelwal said more than 3,000 protesters disrupted the peace in Datia town, tried to close the market, and staged a 12-hour road blockade. More than six policemen suffered injuries in the pelting of stones, he said.
“We tried to pacify them, citing the enforcement of the model code of conduct in the town. However, after they refused to back down and pelted stones, cops fired teargas shells to control the situation,” the senior officer said. Some of the protesters were also arrested and warned of strict action if they resorted to violence, the SP said.
Sources said following Friday’s political development, some of the party office-bearers, including the district unit president and local corporators, resigned from the party in protest. Ashutosh Tiwari’s nomination came as a setback for former Minister Mishra, who, according to party sources, expected the ticket and had even purchased a nomination form.
Mr Tiwari, a resident of Sevda town in Datia, has been active in the State BJP organisation, they said. An elated Mr Tiwari told reporters outside the State BJP office that he met senior party leaders and expressed his gratitude. “Mishra is a very senior leader, my guardian, and he said he will campaign for the party and me,” Mr Tiwari said.
Some of the highway protesters took off their shirts and lay down on the road while others staged a sit-in. They said they would not relent until “Narottam Dada” got the ticket and would even quit the saffron party if not given the ticket.
Congress leader Rajendra Bharti had defeated the then Home Minister Mishra from Datia by over 7,500 votes in the 2023 Assembly elections. However, a Delhi court sentenced Bharti to three years’ imprisonment in a cheating case in April this year, leading to his disqualification as an MLA and necessitating a byelection. He subsequently got bail.
A byelection in Datia was announced by the Election Commission of India on July 7, for which polling will be held on July 30 and counting of votes will take place on August 3. The last date to file nomination is July 13.
The announcement of Mr Tiwari’s name came soon after the Delhi High Court rejected a petition by Mr Bharti seeking a stay on his conviction. The High Court, however, had earlier stayed his sentence. Mr Tiwari, considered close to former Chief Minister Uma Bharti, has served as the chairperson of the Madhya Pradesh Housing & Infrastructure Development Board (MPHIDB) in the rank of a Cabinet Minister in the past. Coming from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) background, he has also been a regional secretary (organisation) in the State unit of the BJP.
The candidate selection has come as a surprise to many in the State BJP as speculations of Mr Mishra’s candidature had been doing rounds since the announcement of the polls.
Local reports from Datia also showed that Mr Mishra confident of getting the party ticket for the byelection had even started his public engagement and held a few rallies. Mr Mishra, a prominent Brahmin leader, has long held influence in the region with Datia as his bastion. Earlier, he had served as a three-term MLA from his home constituency of Dabra and moved to Datia in 2008 after Dabra became reserved for the Scheduled Caste.
The Congress is yet to declare its candidate.
