The announcement of first list of Bihar lok Sabha candidate on Thursday has brought to fore dissension within the party with senior leaders like Giriraj Singh and Ashwani Choubey raising a banner of revolt and ‘Bihari Babu’ Shatrughan Sinha opposing the move to shift him out of his Patna Saheb constituency.
Giriraj Singh, a staunch loyalist of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, has come out in open for not being given the seat of his choice while Choubey is upset over Bhagalpur seat going to Shahnawaz Hussain. Giriraj Singh, who has been fielded from Nawada, wanted to contest from Begusarai whereas Choubey was eyeing the Bhagalpur seat for himself. “I am not going to contest from Nawada seat... I’m ready to make one more sacrifice for Narendra Modi to become the Prime Minister of the country”, Singh said, after coming out from meeting with party president Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Friday. He reportedly conveyed Rajnath Singh about how some of the State party leaders have been selectively targeting some “upper caste” party leaders in Bihar.
Ashwani Choubey is equally critical of renomination of Hussain from Bhagalpur. “Hussain should contest from Muslim dominated Kishanganj constituency… I’ll oppose his candidature if he is fielded from there,” declared Choubey. He also blamed some State leaders for making mess with the party in ticket distribution.
Actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha too was sulking after he found that he was the only one among 12 sitting party MPs whose renomination was n “put on hold”. The party reportedly is mulling to field Shotgun Sinha from a Delhi seat, but he himself has said he would contest only from Patna Saheb seat. The BJP sources said Shotgun Sinha’s woes might be rooted in his flip-flop on Narendra Modi at a time when a debate was on in the party whether he should be declared the BJP’s PM nominee.
Another NaMo supporter and former State Minister Chandra Mohan Rai, who has been denied party ticket from Valmikinagar has expressed his displeasure saying his long association with the party has counted for nothing. “Never before have I been left with the feeling that I am a small pawn in the game that big people play in politics,” rued Rai. Rai too has been advocating for NaMo’s PM nomination since beginning in the State.
Besides, party MlA Ramadhar Singh, Acchutanand Singh, Dr CP Thakur, all are said to be hurt over the role of some top state party leaders in ticket distribution for the lok Sabha poll.