With the wisdom of hindsight, a number of Congress leaders are up in arms against the decision to refuse the ticket for the Nagaur seat to Bhanu Prakash Mirdha, the son of Nathu Ram Mirdha, whose death caused the byelection. Bhanu Prakash won the seat on a BJP ticket on the strength of voters' commitment to his father.
Kesari fielded Ram Niwas Mirdha, who is described by some MPs from the state as too remote and sophisticated to be able to win an election except in a wave.
A Congress MP from the state says Ram Niwas' wife took to the campaign trail for her son, telling voters' in short speeches that they should vote for the hand if they wanted to insult her husband's memory. The late leader was addressed as baba by Jats and others in the state.
The candidate too said little about himself or the BJP, this MP says. He would simply recount his requests to the Congress for the ticket. He would tell them he visited party chief Sitaram Kesari and was rudely told by his peon, Nanki, to sit and wait if he wanted a ticket. And Baba's son was kept waiting for three hours.
He thought these were outsiders and that leaders from Rajasthan would know baba, so turned to state president Ashok Gehlot, he would then say. Gehlot told him he would speak to the party leaders. When he asked which leaders, he replied that he would speak to Kesari.
When he asked him to speak to Kesari right then, Gehlot told him he would speak to Kesari's secretary, Tariq Anwar. When he asked him to do that in front of him, Gehlot dialled something and said he couldn't get through. After three days, Gehlot told him the leaders told him he would not be nominated. It was then that the BJP leaders, whom he did not know, turned up at his house to tell him they would be honoured if baba's son contested on their ticket, this MP recounts Bhanu Prakash telling his audiences.
