A day after Narayan Tripathi, sitting BJP MLA from Satna’s Maihar constituency in Madhya Pradesh, embarrassed his party by alleging that government officials were openly campaigning for BJP candidates during the second phase of local body elections, his son Vikas was elected as member of Maihar janpad panchayat. Commenting on his son’s victory on Thursday, Tripathi said that unlike local body elections, panchayat elections were not on party symbols. “Janpad panchayats (elections) do not happen on party symbols. More importantly, I had told my son that I will not campaign for him. He had to earn people’s trust on his own merit. It is good that people of Maihar placed trust on him,” Tripathi told The Indian Express. When voting of the last phase of the election was underway in Maihar on Wednesday, Tripathi kicked up a controversy. He said, “They (the government) should get done with formalities and distribute certificates to candidates (who are declared winners). After roaming around (Maihar), the way the polling process has been held it feels like there is no state election commission. All officers from patwari to top brass are seen campaigning for a particular party.” “Those officers in charge are seen garnering votes for the BJP,” he said. “I’m not opposing the BJP. I am a BJP MLA, but when such things happen, it hurts me. What I am seeing today needs to be stopped. The situation of the country where governments are brought down within minutes is being done in panchayat and local body elections,” he added. Tripathi further alleged that people from all parties will keep contesting “but some will be made to win. If this happens in Maihar, it will not be for anyone’s good.” Tripathi won an Assembly election from Maihar in 2003 as a Samajwadi Party candidate but lost in 2008. To garner support, he joined the Congress in 2009 and was elected as MLA in 2013 Assembly polls from the same seat. But just before the 2014 general elections, he switched to the BJP. In the 2018 Assembly elections, Tripathi won on a BJP ticket. Known to change loyalties, Tripathi left the BJP red-faced when he voted in favour of Congress along with another BJP MLA Sharad Kol during an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code in the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha in July 2019. While Tripathi is a BJP MLA, his supporters were removed from BJP’s Satna unit. Speaking to The Indian Express, Tripathi said, “I got calls from several people who were told to vote for the BJP by the officials. When I went around Maihar on Wednesday, those who came out of the polling booth reiterated that officers were forcing them to vote for the BJP after which I gave those statements.” Tripathi has also started a campaign demanding an independent state, Vindh Pradesh, citing development. “I am a part of the BJP family and it was Atalji’s vision that there should be small states for development and better governance. We are demanding the same from our party,” he said. Commenting on Tripathi’s statement, Congress media vice president Abbas Hafiz said, “Such statements coming from a sitting BJP MLA show the rot that has set into the system and the entire democratic process had been steamrolled. But the people can see it and that it why they had taught BJP a lesson in 2018 bringing Congress to power, the same will be repeated in 2023.” Meanwhile, Hitesh Bajpai, a BJP spokesperson, called Tripathi’s statements absurd. “Senior party leaders have taken cognisance of what he has said and it is not the party’s views. These statements are absurd to say the least,” he said.
