The Bharatiya Janata Party has put its bet on young Bhanu Bhuria against veteran Kantilal Bhuria of Congress for the Jhabua bypoll scheduled for October 21.
Bhanu, 35, is the district president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha―the youth wing of BJP, and is a first timer in electoral politics. In contrast, 69-year-old Kantilal Bhuria is a five-time former MP and former Union minister of two terms.
Though going merely by statistics and past records, Kantilal might seem to be the stronger candidate, the clean slate, freshness and good local hold of BJP’s Bhanu Bhuria might give him a shot at winning the poll, local sources said.
BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal also exuded confidence on similar grounds. “The experience of Kantilal Bhuria might be exactly the reason why BJP will win the polls. People of Jhabua have seen all about the Congress candidates for past several years,” he said.
Jhabua byelection is important for the Congress in the sense that the party with 114 MLAs is two short of majority in the house. If it wins the byelection from the seat earlier held by BJP, its count will be that much closer to the majority.
BJP has its repute at stake as it had won the seat comfortably in 2018 assembly polls. However, it had to be vacated since the MLA G.S. Damor got elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019 elections.
Though it was being surmised that Congress might give the bypoll ticket to ex-MLA Javier Medha, the candidature finally went to veteran Kantilal due to his proximity to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, sources said.
Medha had contested as a rebel in 2018 elections after being denied ticket by the Congress and garnered as much as 35,943 votes while Congress candidate Vikrant Bhuria (son of Kantilal Bhuria) lost by 10,437 votes to BJP’s Damor.
Medha had been expelled from the party for this rebellion, but was taken back in the fold ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. While Congress exudes confidence of a huge win in Jhabua bypoll, placating Medha, who is till now silent on the candidate selection, might be a task for the party, sources say.
The Congress has taken care of one worrying factor, the possible rebellion by Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS) founder and party MLA Dr Hiralal Alawa, who had earlier threatened to field an independent candidate in the constituency. However, recently, Dr Alawa expressed support for the official candidate of the party. The JAYS has a good hold among tribal youth of the region.
BJP is depending on the infighting in Congress and the purported weariness among the voters for Kantilal Bhuria to retain the seat. The seat fell vacant after Damor defeated Kantilal in the Lok Sabha elections held in May to become a MP.
