The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing a major internal rebellion in Madhya Pradesh after denying former state Home Minister Narottam Mishra a ticket for the July 30 Datia Assembly bypoll and fielding Ashutosh Tiwari instead.
The decision sparked widespread protests by Mishra's supporters, who blocked National Highway-44 overnight, clashed with police, and demanded that the party reconsider its candidate.
Protest Turns Violent
The highway blockade, which lasted nearly 11-12 hours, was eventually cleared by police after protesters allegedly resorted to stone-pelting.
Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. While protesters alleged that lathi-charge was carried out and more than 50 BJP workers were injured, the district administration denied using batons.
Supporters also claimed women protesters were mistreated during the police action and alleged that police personnel used abusive language.
Some BJP workers further alleged that bombs were hurled near the party's Datia office and that several protesters were confined inside the premises by police. These claims have not been independently verified.
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Administration Rejects Lathi-Charge Allegations
Datia District Magistrate Swapnil Wankhede said the administration was forced to intervene after repeated appeals to end the road blockade failed.
According to the district administration, the protest caused an approximately 20-25 kilometre traffic jam, leaving buses carrying women and children, ambulances and other vehicles stranded for nearly 11 hours.
The DM said stone-pelting began when officials attempted to negotiate with protesters around 4 am, forcing police to fire tear gas shells.
He said eight police personnel, including the Superintendent of Police and himself, sustained injuries in the violence.
Wankhede denied allegations of a lathi-charge. "The police did not use a lathi charge anywhere. The administration has no concern with who gets the ticket; our job is to conduct the elections." He also warned that strict action would be taken if protesters attempted to regroup.
District BJP Unit Resigns
The political fallout intensified after BJP's Datia district president Raghuveer Singh Kushwaha announced a mass resignation along with the district executive and several local office-bearers.
In a letter addressed to the party leadership, Kushwaha described the decision to deny Mishra a ticket as "unilateral" and disrespectful to grassroots workers.
He said the resignations included district office-bearers, the district panchayat president, municipal council representatives, mandal presidents, councillors and office-bearers from all 291 booths in the Datia Assembly constituency.
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24-Hour Ultimatum To BJP
Kushwaha also issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the BJP leadership, demanding that Narottam Mishra be declared the party's candidate.
He warned that if the decision was not reversed within the stipulated period, he would resign from the BJP's primary membership and launch a stronger protest.
Meanwhile, Mishra's supporters continued raising slogans against BJP candidate Ashutosh Tiwari, saying local workers had been ignored.
The BJP on Friday named Ashutosh Tiwari, a party functionary from Sevda in Datia district, as its candidate for the July 30 bypoll.
The by-election was necessitated after Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti was disqualified following his conviction in a cheating case.
Narottam Mishra, who lost the Datia seat to Bharti in the 2023 Assembly elections by over 7,500 votes, was widely expected to be renominated. His exclusion has triggered one of the biggest instances of internal dissent within the BJP in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the bypoll.