Madhya Pradesh: BSP cadre sees Tomar's hand in Morena swap

BHOPAL

: A day after the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate was replaced in Morena, the party cadre feels that BJP candidate Narendra Singh Tomar is behind the move. After campaigning in Morena for almost a month, BSP’s

Ramlakhan Singh

was replaced by Kartar Singh Bhadana by the party leadership.


Bhadana is a businessman from from Haryana who joined BSP on the day he was given the ticket. Caste politics is believed to be the reason behind the political drama, sources said.

However on Thursday, Tomar denied any hand in the whole issue. “I don’t believe in trade of tickets”, he told reporters in Morena after filing his nomination papers.

Embarrassed by the whole issue, Ramlakhan Singh who has represented the Bhind

Lok Sabha

seat four times said, “I am surprised and so are my workers and supporters who had been campaigning for the past many days. In fact, my supporters are very angry. I am leaving for Lucknow to meet Mayawati”

Banners and posters of Ramlakhan Singh are still visible in the constituency. Bhadana was not even a BSP member and he was made its member by Ramji Goutam, state party in charge and vice president of the BSP, on Wednesday, the day his name was announced, party sources said.

Political pundits said that the presence of the two Thakur candidates – Narendra Singh Tomar and Ramlakhan Singh — in the fray would have divided the 2.5 lakh Thakur votes. Now the division of the votes will be between two OBCs- Congress candidate Ramniwas Rawat and Bhadana.

Asked whether Narendra Singh Tomar is behind the BSP move, Ramlakhan Singh said, “This rumour is being spread by the BJP. Tomar has already denied this allegation”.

BSP president DP Choudhary said, “In fact, Ramlakhan Singh himself volunteered to withdraw from the contest”.