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Former Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Sunday said he did not meet the top BJP leadership during his visit to Delhi, after being denied the party ticket to the Datia bypoll.
Mishra's clarification came after he travelled to the national capital after the BJP denied him a ticket for the Datia Assembly bye-election and fielded Ashutosh Tiwari instead. Mishra had contested and lost the Datia Assembly seat in the 2023 elections. "I didn't meet any leader," Mishra told reporters. When asked whether he had met BJP national president Nitin Nabin, he replied, "No, no such meeting took place. I wasn't even called for one." Narottam Mishra reiterated his support for the party's nominee and said he would attend the nomination filing. "I will definitely attend Ashutosh ji's nomination filing. I am accompanying the Chief Minister, and I will be with Ashutosh ji when the nomination is filed," he said. Following the BJP's decision to deny Mishra a ticket, his supporters protested in Datia on Saturday, where demonstrators blocked National Highway-44 for nearly 11 hours. Eight police personnel were injured in the stone-pelting, and traffic movement across four districts was affected during the protests. Mishra had earlier said he would support the BJP candidate and attend Tiwari's nomination. Tiwari will face Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh in the contest. "We will convince the workers. These are our workers, our own people. Everyone will agree. I have no resentment toward anyone. Who's saying to change it (party)? I didn't say anything. I'll do whatever the party says. I have no resentment toward anyone. I will attend his nomination. I will discuss it with everyone. I am not angry with anyone," Mishra had told reporters. Meanwhile, speaking to ANI, Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh acknowledged that Narottam Mishra could be a big challenge for him, but the present BJP candidate Ashutosh Tiwari was "nothing". "There is a lot of difference. He (Narottam) was a very big challenge. This one is nothing. He will get as many votes as possible based on the party's strength, the government's strength, and the administration's strength. He will get some good votes when all these forces are applied. The administration will be used, the government will be used, money will be distributed," he said. "The people in the villages wouldn't even have heard his (Ashutosh) name. He has never even gone to the villages in the Datia assembly constituency," Ghanshyam Singh said. The Datia Assembly seat fell vacant following the disqualification of Rajendra Bharti on April 2. The disqualification was under the provisions of Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and Article 191(1)(e) of the Constitution. The Election Commission of India has announced that polling for the Datia Assembly bypoll will be held on July 30, while counting of votes will take place on August 3. (ANI)
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