BJP plays down reports of infighting in Kashi Pranth unit

VARANASI: The infighting in Bharatiya Janata Party in many constituencies is hinting that the move of fielding Narendra Modi from Varanasi to gain maximum seats from east UP region may get hindered.
Most of the seats where infighting surfaced after ticket distribution fall under the Kashi Pranth unit of BJP. For the office-bearers of this unit, the disgruntled lobbies are proving a hard nut to crack, though unit chief Laxman Acharya claims that most of them have been convinced and those who are still dissatisfied will also be persuaded."Nobody wants to lose the opportunity of Modi wave to form BJP led NDA government at the Centre," said Acharya.
The office-bearers are bound to make hectic exercise, because out of 12 parliamentary seats falling under Kashi Pranth unit, the problem from dissatisfied groups was faced in Deoria, Chandauli, Ghosi, Robertsganj, Jaunpur, Salempur and also in Mirzapur. The party is aware that if this problem is not tackled timely, the effects of infighting can prove heavier over Modi wave. The differences and protests came to fore immediately after the announcement of candidates on all these seats.
After the decision of fielding Kalraj Mishra from that seat, the supporters of former state president Surya Pratap Shahi and Sriprakash Mani adopted warpath and staged demonstration there. During his brief stay in city on Tuesday, Mishra denied that there is any problem in his constituency now. It is considered that to convince Shahi, the BJP included his name in the list of 40 star campaigners who will campaign for party in UP.
How the mood of other senior leader Om Prakash Singh turned bitter when the party overlooked the claim of his son Anurag Singh and gave Mirzapur seat to Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel is not hidden. Singh resigned as head of the committee formed to collect iron from UP villages for ambitious project of tallest statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. He is still staying behind the curtain. Former minister Swami Chinmayanand opposed the fielding of KP Singh from Jaunpur.
The heat of protest of the supporters of Ram Iqbal and Pankaj Shekhar against the fielding of Ravindra Kushwaha from Salempur is still being felt. Protest were held in Chandauli by the supporters of former MP Anand Ratan Maurya against the decision of giving ticket to former minister Mahendranath Pandey. The demand to replace candidates from Robertsganj and Ghosi seats are still being raised. The BJP can't bear these dissatisfactions for long, because parties like Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party still maintain stronghold in most of the assembly segments of these parliamentary constituencies.
Acharya said that these protests are not unnatural as aspirants of tickets remain high in number but ticket can be given to only one. Kashi Pranth unit spokesman Rakesh Trivedi disclosed that the party high command had been made aware about the disgruntled groups. He said that if these groups continue to create problems, the party would initiate action against them.