JAIPUR: The leaders of BJP and
Congress had a tough time on Thursday — the last day for withdrawal of
nominations — convincing the rebels to withdraw from the fray. The senior
leaders, in fact, left no stone unturned in their mostly unsuccessful effort to
win over the rebels..
A visit to state BJP president Om Prakash
Mathur’s office on Thursday morning said it all. Surrounded by his men,
Mathur was constantly over the phone, switching over from one mobile to another
and at times using the landline. Most of the calls made were either to the
rebels or in some cases, to those who could approach the
rebels.
While a few were assured that their demands would be looked
into, others were reminded how the party had taken care of them in the past.
With some, the leaders pleaded, there were others, whom the state president just
ordered: “Meri baat manlo, mera hukam samajh ke
manlo.”
Talking to TOI, Mathur admitted that all efforts were
being made. “That is what the situation demands and by now, we have
managed to convince most of them,” he said. However, denying to discuss
the candidature of Kirorilal Meena, he asked, “How is he different from
the others?”
The scene at the Congress office was not much
different. All senior leaders including state president C P Joshi and former CM
Ashok Gehlot personally talked to a number of rebels, pleading them to withdraw
nominations. They had issued a warning to the rebels that if they refuse to
budge the party would be left with no choice but to take action against
them.
“We will try and ensure that those who did not withdraw
their nomination today will agree to support us or retire in favour of the
party,” said Gehlot. Of the 63 rebels who had filed nomination papers
against the Congress candidates, only 25 have withdrawn their papers.
On the other hand, of the 62 BJP rebels who had filed their
nomination as independent candidates, only 21 have withdrawn. The party is yet
to convince big names like Kanhaiyalal Meena from Bassi, Madanlal Saini from
Udaipur Vati and Govind Chouhan from Khajuwala, apart from Kirorilal Meena. A
senior leader said that there were at least 10 big names whom they could not
persuade to withdraw. “CM herself talked to them and so did other leaders.
They are the ones who might actually prove to be a threat to the party,”
said a senior leader.