Bhopal, Dec 16: Uma Bharti`s Bharatiya Janashakti
Party, which contested the November 27 assembly elections in
Madhya Pradesh with an intention to keep ruling BJP out of
power, failed miserably in its native Bundelkhand region with
its president losing the Tikamgarh assembly constituency.
Strategists of the BJP, who were of the opinion that
Uma factor would not have any influence on the elections, were
hoping that the party would win in eight out of 26 seats
in the Bundelkhand region, but it ended up bagging 14 seats.
Congress nominees were unable to save their security
deposits in five constituencies in Tikamgarh and Chhattarpur
districts while only one BJP candidate, food and civil
supplies minister in previous cabinet, Akhand Pratap Singh
lost his security deposit.
Singh was placed fourth in Tikamgarh constituency
where Uma Bharti lost to Yadavendra Singh of the Congress.
Singh had been a critic of his own government and
sensing that he might go to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) if
denied a party ticket, BJP made him its nominee in Tikamgarh.
This was done to avoid the damage that could have been
done by Singh`s joining the BSP.
It was the reason why BJP used all its force in
Tikamgarh constituency to defeat Bharti and Singh.
Feeling encouraged by the Uma factor, the Congress had
a notion that power in the state would be a piece of cake for
it.
However, the results proved Congress` thinking wrong,
which cost it the elections.
Uma Bharti, who was humiliated before being expelled
from the BJP would also be unhappy at the fact that the
damaged caused by her to BJP was much less than that inflicted
on the Congress by BSP.
Election experts feel that BSP was able to cause some
problems for BJP with its `social engineering` formula.
Bureau Report
|
