Varun Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Varun Gandhi, son of Maneka Gandhi, has failed to get the Bharatiya Janata Party ticket for contesting the Lok Sabha by-election in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh. Although the BJP central election committee considered his name, a decision in favour of Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister Ram Pal Singh came after 45 minutes of deliberations here on Friday.

Advani's support

Party circles here see the decision as significant because Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani was supporting Mr. Gandhi's candidature, while BJP president Rajnath Singh threw in his lot with the State unit, which opposed the imposition of an outsider in a constituency considered a party stronghold.

It is learnt that although the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was initially in favour of inducting Mr. Gandhi into the Lok Sabha — the Vidisha poll was seen as a good opportunity — at Friday's meeting he took the view that nothing should be done against the wishes of the State unit.

The decision is being seen as one of the first instances where Mr. Singh had his way in opposition to Mr. Advani.

Bhagalpur seat

For the Bhagalpur Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, the candidature of the former Cabinet Minister Shahnawaz Husain was "unanimous," said a central party leader. Apparently, the State BJP also favoured him. In Bhagalpur the party sees an opportunity to get a Muslim candidate elected and Mr. Husain fits the bill.

In the Koderma Lok Sabha constituency in Jharkhand, the BJP expects a tough fight from Babulal Marandi, who resigned the seat after quitting the party. Pranab Kumar Verma, son of a former party MP Rit Lal Verma, has been given the ticket to contest the seat.

Assembly seat

In the Malehra Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, vacated by Uma Bharti after she parted ways with the BJP, the ticket has been given to Kapurchand Guhara.

The BJP will keenly watch the by-elections in Madhya Pradesh as they offer Ms. Bharati an opportunity to test strength against her former party on her home ground. There is no firm news as yet whether she will contest the Malehra seat or attempt to enter Parliament through Vidisha. The Madhya Pradesh BJP unit thinks that Mr. Guhara, who has contested the Malehra seat several times on different party tickets, can give her a tough fight.

If Ms. Bharti contests from Vidisha, it will be a battle between her and Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who vacated this seat after becoming Chief Minister. He would be forced to defend his territory.

In Talsara, a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Orissa, the BJP candidate will be Sahdev Khaka.

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