Ujjain Municipal Corporation elections; BJP workers’ dissatisfaction spills on road after second list of candidates

Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): BJP members who were denied the party tickets for ward elections of the Ujjain Municipal Corporation (UMC) staged a strong protest here on Friday. They were particularly peeved by the allocation of party tickets to Rameshwar Dubey, from ward 29. They demanded that the city president take back Dubey’s ticket. The state leadership has sent former organising secretary Jitendra Litoria to the city to stop the incidents of increasing opposition in the party.

BJP has now declared the names of candidates of all 54 wards of Ujjain Municipal Corporation in two instalments. The party had announced the names of 49 candidates late on Thursday. Only the names of ward numbers 6, 23, 29, 38 and 42 were withheld. On Friday morning, candidates were also declared in the remaining five wards. BJP has fielded Shivendra Tiwari from ward 6, Rajat Mehta from 23, Rameshwar Dubey from 29, Anil Gupta from 38 and Anjali Balkrishna Patel from 42.

The voices of protest intensified as soon as Rameshwar Dubey’s name came up in ward 29. A large number of activists, led by Hinduist leader Rupesh Thakur, reached the party’s headquarters at Lokshakti Bhawan and staged a demonstration. Party workers who were carrying placards raised slogans and said that parachute candidates should not get party tickets. They resorted to a dharna in front of Lokshakti Bhawan and met city president Vivek Joshi. Thakur said that BJP gave ticket to Rameshwar Dubey twice from ward number 29. He won once and lost once. He always betrayed the BJP. He supported the independents and also contested as an independent. “We protested in a peaceful manner. We have told the party what will happen to the common worker if it takes such a decision,” Thakur said, adding that he was with the party and will continue to do so.

On the other hand, people also reached the house of State BJP co-treasurer Anil Jain Kaluhera to protest. The activists kept protesting till late night at his residence at Dussehra Maidan. Former divisional organising secretary Jitendra Litoria, who came to Ujjain to review the situation at the behest of the state leadership, also heard the submissions of the workers. Kaluhera said that candidates are selected in the BJP only through a process. Accordingly, the selection has been made. There is no division in BJP. We all carry forward the dreams of Deendayal Upadhyay, he added.

OBJECTION ON FIELDING OBC FROM OPEN WARD

Meanwhile, Indira Nagar Yuva Vikas Samiti president and BJP’s ticket aspirant from ward-5, Mangesh Shrivastava, has objected to the fielding of OBC candidate (Dilip Parmar) from the ward which is kept open for general category candidates. In a statement, he said that since Parmar switched over to the BJP along with Jyotirditya Scindia, the party gifted him the candidature as part of a compromise. “Dedicated workers who have been fighting for the cause of people as per the ideology of BJP have been sidelined and injustice has been made by fielding an OBC candidate from general seat,” Shrivastava stated on Friday.