Workers’ dissent takes BJP brass by surprise

Taken aback by the public comments by some leaders against Bedi, who has been chosen to lead the BJP in the February 7 election in Delhi, the top leadership has given strict warning to the state leaders not to air their “dissent voices” or “differences” in the open.

The party has, however, decided not to take action against those who have protested publicly against the ticket distribution, at least for now. “The protests supporting a leader who has been denied ticket should be seen as a positive sign as it shows their enthusiasm,” a BJP leader said.

But state unit sources said the morale of the party leadership is low since the list came out on Monday. “The leadership has to understand, Delhi is not like Jharkhand or Maharashtra. Here, the cadre are organised and loyal. Giving tickets to outsiders, who have been cursing the party and its leader in public so far, has hurt the workers. Their morale is quite low,” a senior leader said.

National leaders admitted that Shah, who does not have many close friends in the party and is so particular about discipline in the organisation that he is often seen as an autocrat, was not expecting any leader to question his decision to bring in Bedi. But no matter how much the party tries to conceal the differences among its workers over the “leadership’s unilateral decisions”, the dissatisfaction seems to be intensifying.

The BJP has denied tickets to many prominent faces . Among them are former party leader Sahib Singh Verma’s son Azad Singh, who was seeking ticket from Mehrauli, former mayor Arti Mehra (Malaviya Nagar), former MP V K Malhotra’s son A K Malhotra (GK), former MP and party vice-president Anita Arya (Patel Nagar) and Delhi BJP’s youth wing president, Nakul Bhardwaj (Patparganj).