Rajasthan BJP Pulls Up Leader Who Accused Om Birla, Others of Helping Congress in Bypoll

Jaipur: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan on Monday (February 2) issued a show cause notice to its leader Morpal Suman – who was the party’s candidate for the Anta assembly by-elections held in November last year – after he accused several leaders of the saffron party including incumbent Kota MP and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla of working towards defeating him in the bypolls and helping Congress’s Pramod Jain Bhaya, who emerged as the winner.

The letter, which makes several scathing allegations against many BJP leaders, has brought forth possible instances of infighting and factionalism within the party in Rajasthan.

The show cause notice to Suman was issued by Rajasthan BJP president Madan Rathore after a letter purportedly written by Suman in Hindi which went viral on social media. Addressed to Narendra Singh Sikarwar, the party’s district president in Baran, the letter is also marked to prime minister Narendra Modi, former BJP president J.P. Nadda, incumbent BJP president Nitin Nabin, BJP national general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh, former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Rajasthan chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and state president Rathore.

The subject line of the letter says it is a review report of the Anta by-election loss and lists reasons for the setback.

“The delay by the party in announcing the ticket. Sabotage by the party’s leading office bearers which played a central role. The entire team of Shri Om Birla played a role in opposing directly or indirectly. Helped in the victory of Congress candidate Pramod Jain Bhaya by making available a substantial amount to the big leaders of Baran and luring voters,” says the letter allegedly written by Suman.

The letter purportedly written by Suman that has gone vital on social media. Photo: By arrangement

The letter further claims that one Manoj Sharma, who is the business partner of Rajasthan energy minister Heeralal Nagar distributed money in support of Congress’s Bhaya and got him votes.

“There was speculation during the Anta by-election that if Morpal Suman defeats Congress candidate Pramod Jain Bhaya then there is a strong chance that he will be made a minister. As a result all three (BJP) MLAs from the district Shri Pratap Singh Singhvi, Shri Lalit Meena and Shri Radhesham Bairwa collectively tried to defeat directly, indirectly,” says the letter.

The other BJP leaders whom Suman has accused in the letter of sabotaging the election leading to his defeat include former district president and zila pramukh Nandlal Suman, former district president Anand Garg, Mukesh Dhakad, Dharamveer Meena and former MLA Hemraj Meena.

“Most of those who were seeking tickets helped defeat me and the party. It is my request to you that action be taken against all of them for indiscipline and working against the party,” the letter says.

The letter bearing the signature of BJP's Anta assembly by-election candidate Morpal Suman that has gone vital on social media. Photo: By arrangement

It also accuses the Election Commission of not working fairly and cites that the Congress candidate along with an independent used a large number of horses, elephants and DJs during campaigning.

After the letter went viral on social media, the BJP issued the show cause notice to Suman on Monday, saying that he has tarnished the image of the party.

“It has come to be known that you have levelled baseless allegations without any details and evidence against many responsible and senior members of the BJP and made it public. As per the constitution of the BJP, there is a provision of presenting one’s side orally or in writing before appropriate level of the party. But by violating this process you have tarnished the image of the BJP which comes under the definition of indiscipline as described in the party’s constitution,” says the show cause notice issued by BJP state president Rathore to Suman.

Rathore has asked Suman to present his clarification within three days in writing or it will be deemed that he doesn’t have anything to say about the allegations.

The show cause notice issued to Morpal Suman by BJP Rajasthan president Madan Rathore. Photo: BJP

When The Wire contacted Suman and asked for his reaction about the letter and the subsequent show cause issued to him by the party, he said, "I am busy with my son's wedding. I am not aware about any of this and got to know from the media."

In the Anta by-elections held in November last year, despite a star-studded campaigning by the ruling BJP where incumbent chief minister Sharma and former chief minister Raje hit the streets together to garner support for Suman, he lost the elections from the seat which was earlier held by the BJP.

At the end, Congress candidate Bhaya clinched victory by polling a total of 69,462 votes followed by BJP’s Suman who received 53,858 votes and independent candidate Naresh Meena, who trailed Suman closely with 53,740 votes.

The by-election in Anta was necessitated after BJP MLA from the constituency Kanwarlal Meena was disqualified under the Representation of the People (RP) Act 1951. Meena’s disqualification took place after he was convicted in a 20-year-old case of assault on a public servant.

In the 2023 assembly elections, Kanwarlal Meena had wrested the Anta seat from Congress heavyweight Bhaya, who at the time was a cabinet minister in the then Ashok Gehlot-led government.

Baran district, of which Anta is a part, is considered to be a stronghold of former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje. At present her son Dushyant Singh is the incumbent MP from Jhalawar-Baran and has been elected to the parliament five times from the region. Raje herself is an MLA from the Jhalrapatan constituency in the neighbouring Jhalawar district.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.