Trying hard to get them round ahead of last day withdrawal

BHOPAL: With less than 24 hours left for withdrawing names from the fray, the BJP has pressed senior leaders Prabhat Jha, Narendra Singh Tomar, Rakesh Singh and Kailash Vijayavargiya into damage-control exercise. Grappling with dissidence— 40 dissidents, the party in the state has claimed to have to placated 15 rebel candidates. Going by party leaders’ claim, they agreed to withdraw their nominations at the eleventh hour.
Sources in the BJP said party seniors like former minister Ramkrishna Kusmariya, Raghavji Bhai, Dheeraj Pateria, Jitendra Daga and K L Agrawal have refused to withdraw from the November 28 fray, though BJP has succeeded in pacifying some dissidents in Surendra Patwa's Bhojpur constituency.Still, more than 15 ministers are facing opposition from within the party or through indirect support to the rival candidates. The party has decided to expel all dissidents if they refuse to withdraw after November 14, the last date for withdrawing candidature.
In Damoh, the BJP is facing the double threat from Damoh and Patharia where former minister Kusuma Priya is contesting as an Independent candidate against official contestants, finance minister Jayant Malaiya and sitting MLA Lakhan Patel.
In Bhojpur, the party has succeeded in pacifying former municipal head Vipin Bhargava and senior BJP leader Jodha Singh Atwal to withdraw their nomination, discontentment among senior workers continued to be a threat for minister Surendra Patwa.
Agriculture minister Gaurishankar Bisen is facing the challenge in Balaghat seat from Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Anubha Munjare, who had lost the previous election by a margin of 25,00 votes. Ironically, Munjare managed to gather support from BJP dissidents in the region against Biden and his daughter Mausam, who is also campaigning for her father.
In Hatpipliya (Dewas), minister Deepak Joshi had to face ire of local residents when members of Khati community sought timeline for the completion of incomplete projects. The Congress has fielded Manoj Chaudhary from this seat, where members of the Khati community are in dominant position. Joshi had asked party leaders to change his seat, but it didn't work out.
In Burhanpur, the Congress has fielded Ravindra Mahajan against BJP candidate and minister Archana Chitnis. Earlier, the Congress had named Hamid Qazi as an official candidate but at the last moment, the ticket was given to Mahajan who has gained sympathy from local trader community.
Minister Rampal Singh, who is contesting this election from Silwani is facing ire of Raghuvanshi community for his ‘silence’ on the issue of his son’s alleged marriage and suicide by a daughter-in-law. Rampal had requested the party to shift him to Udaypura however, he will face Devendra Patel from Congress and SAPAKS candidate Madhuri Raghuvanshi.
In Gwalior South, minister Narayan Singh Kushwaha is facing Pravin Pathak of Congress. However, the entry of former mayor of Gwalior Samiksha Gupta, who is contesting an Independent candidate from the same area, has turned it into a triangular fight.
In Vijayaraghogarh (Katni), minister Sanjay Pathak is pitted against traditional rival Padma Shukla, who left BJP to join Congress. She has also gathered support from her saffron supporters besides traditional Congress voters.
After BJP dissident Dheeraj Pateria deciding to fight as an Independent candidate, the contest in Jabalpur North has become tough for the ruling party candidate. Pateria was BJP state youth president, but the BJP chose minister Sharad Jain as an official candidate. Congress has fielded Vinay Saxena and SAPAKS fielded member of Jain community Ashish Jain.
Minister Lalita Yadav, who changed her seat to Malhara from Chhatarpur, is facing opposition from supporters of sitting MLA Rekha Yadav, who also belonged to Uma Bharti faction.
In Rehli, minister Gopal Bhargava is pitted against Congress candidate Kamlesh Sahu, who was earlier a volunteer of RSS and Parliament representative of MP Prahlad Patel. Though Bhargava is confident of a clean sweep in his area, local Patel community has rallied behind Sahu under the leadership of a local leader, Jeevan Patel.
In Rewa, minister Rajendra Shukla is facing an allegation of nepotism in allotment of land to a local business group. He is being challenged by Congress candidate Abhay Mishra, former district panchayat head who left BJP after a tussle. His MLA wife Neelam Mishra has also quit the saffron party to support her husband.
In Morena, minister Rustam Singh is facing a triangular contest with Raghuraj Singh Kansana from Congress and Balbir Singh Dandotiya from BSP. In 2013, Rustam Singh had won the election by a thin margin of 1704 votes. He had recently raked up a controversy over his alleged remarks against a community.
BJP leader Prabhat Jha, who reached Damoh on Tuesday to pacify Kusuma Priya, could not communicate. BJP state head Rakesh Singh said the party was trying to communicate and convince all dissidents and hopefully all of them would withdraw on Wednesday. BJP state election management committee convener and Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the party is open to talk to all dissidents.