Shillong, November 3: The efforts of both the Congress and BJP to persuade some of their rebel candidates to withdraw from the upcoming elections were successful in a number of cases. However, as the deadline for nomination withdrawal has passed, many rebels remain in the electoral race.
As per IANS, a significant number of these rebels have chosen to continue as independent candidates after being denied tickets by their respective political parties, which include the Congress and the ruling BJP. This has added an intriguing dimension to the upcoming contests, with some of the rebels being closely related to party members.
The Congress leadership managed to convince approximately a dozen of its members to withdraw their nominations, providing some relief for the party’s official candidates. Nevertheless, around a dozen Assembly seats still face the challenge of rebel candidates.
For instance, Antar Singh Darbar, a rebel Congress candidate, did not withdraw his nomination from the Dr. Ambedkar Nagar-Mhow Assembly constituency and announced his departure from the party. Darbar, a two-time Congress MLA, filed papers as an independent candidate after the party denied him a ticket and instead fielded Ramkishore Shukla.
Senior leaders from both the BJP and Congress, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, State Congress President Kamal Nath, and Digvijaya Singh, have held multiple meetings with disgruntled party members in an effort to bring them back into the fold.
However, both parties continue to face challenges from rebel candidates in nearly 30 seats each. Several influential leaders from both parties are still in the race as independents or representing smaller parties, with the intention of undermining the chances of official BJP and Congress candidates.
Notable cases include BJP rebel Harshwardhan Singh Chouhan, son of former MP and State BJP chief Nandkumar Singh Chouhan, who is contesting from the Burhanpur seat. Another BJP rebel, former Tikamgarh MLA K.K. Shrivastav, remains in contention, challenging the party’s official candidate.
In the Bhopal Uttar (north) seat, two Congress rebels, Amir Aqeel and Nasir Islam, are running as independents, aiming to impact the party’s prospects in its stronghold. The seat has been held by the Congress since 1993.
The rebel challenge continues to be a prominent factor in the upcoming elections, as a number of candidates, including former MLAs Shekhar Choudhary and Om Prakash Raghuvanshi, did not withdraw their nominations on the final day.