Discontent cropped up over ticket distribution for the ensuing local body elections in both the major political parties of Madhya Pradesh—the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress — refuse to let down despite all round efforts of State and Central leadership.
Two All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretaries are in the State capital since last couple of days for damage control by pacifying the fuming party workers, leaders and their supporters. While in the BJP, State president Nandkumar Singh Chouhan and organisational general secretary Arvind Menon are directly dealing with the dissatisfied lots and except for a few cases, they are successful in dealing the discontent.
The situation in the Congress is worse. The supporters of two senior leaders clashed here on Tuesday in the State headquarters of the party. The Central observers somehow succeeded in pacifying the senior leaders including State vice-president Manak Agarwal and former MP Premchand Guddu but a new controversy erupted against senior State election committee member and MlA Mahendra Singh Kalukheda for demanding money to provide the party ticket. The allegations were levelled by the president of Ashoknagar unit of the party. No sooner does the name of Kalukheda came up in controversy laxman Singh, younger brother of AICC general secretary and MP Digvijay Singh reacted and told that the MPs and MlAs should keep-off from recommending their near and dear ones names for party tickets.
Notably, Kalukheda is close confidant of former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and the political rivalry between Scindia and Digvijay is well-known.
Meanwhile, the conditions in the BJP though seem under control of the leadership but still some cases of discontent props-up every now and then. A similar incidence was witnessed at party’s State headquarters when party MlA from Chhatarpur lalita Yadav alleged that the local committee constituted for ticket distribution took its decisions behind closed doors and despite being legislator she was not involved in the process.