Disquiet to blame for loss in Badshapur? BJP to probe

GURUGRAM: In a seat with 3.6 lakh voters — Haryana’s largest by that parameter— a loss by a margin of 10,000 votes might seem a narrow miss. And it might have been analysed as just that had BJP been in a position to form the government on its own.
But the loss of BJP candidate Manish Yadav in Badshapur has prompted an inquiry from the party on why it failed to win this seat when all the three other seats in the district — where too BJP fielded debutants — remained in its kitty.
A look at data collated from some of the booths indicates internal bickering could have had an effect on BJP’s final tally in Badshapur. Yadav, a youth wing leader, was trumped by Independent candidate Rakesh Daultabad by around 10,000 votes. The party, however, won the Gurugram, Sohna and Pataudi constituencies.
Supporters of Rao Narbir Singh were in for a surprise when the BJP list of candidates released earlier this month did not have their leader’s name on it. The party had instead chosen first-timer Yadav, though Narbir is known to wield considerable influence on the Yadav community. Speculation was rife that disgruntled supporters of Narbir would skip the campaign for Yadav. And when the poll results were out, most of them said they were “vindicated”.
“Being the biggest assembly constituency in the state, it is home to quite a few senior party leaders. Data collated from some of the booths is indeed an eye-opener. For instance, in booth numbers 140 and 141 in Wazirpur, from where BJP district president Bhupinder Chauhan and chairman of the zilla parishad Kalyan Singh Chauhan hail, our candidate got just 346 votes while Rakesh Daultabad bagged 913. Likewise in booth numbers 186 and 187, the party got 238 votes and the Independent candidate 1,182. This is the area where district general secretary Anil Gandas wields influence,” said a senior BJP leader.
These numbers have prompted the BJP leadership in Delhi to seek a booth-wise report to gauge the mood in the rank and file. “Candidates in the three other seats of Gurugram were new too, but they still managed to win comfortably. The party has taken note of the discontent. Accountability will be fixed once the new government is formed,” another functionary said.