BJP’s ‘Booth Ka Bhoot’ Rajneesh Agrawal in spotlight:Lands Rajya Sabha berth; backroom strategist overtakes bigger names in MP

Elections for three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh quota are to be held on June 18. BJP has nominated National General Secretary Tarun Chugh and State Minister Rajneesh Agrawal as candidates for the two seats it holds. Rajneesh Agrawal is known as ‘Booth ka Bhoot’ (Ghost of the Booth) in the party. He has been in charge of booth management in Madhya Pradesh BJP since 2021. Under his leadership, 65,000 booths in the state were digitized. He also oversaw the categorization of booths into A, B, C, and D. Additionally, he has played a role in strategizing the appointment of ‘Ardh Panna Prabhari’ (half-page in-charge) for every 30 voters, as well as planning to increase the party’s vote share in assembly and Lok Sabha elections. No Upper Caste MP in Rajya Sabha from MP Out of 11 Rajya Sabha MPs from MP, 8 are from BJP. Among them, there are three MPs each from OBC and SC categories. There was also one MP from ST and one from Christian, i.e., minority category. However, there was not a single MP from the general category from the state in the Rajya Sabha. In such a situation, the central leadership of BJP decided that an upper caste leader from MP would be sent to the Rajya Sabha this time. How Veteran Leaders Were Out of the Race From Madhya Pradesh BJP, the names of Dr. Narottam Mishra (from the Brahmin community), Dr. Arvind Bhadauria, Akhand Pratap Singh (from the Kshatriya community), and Kailash Vijayvargiya, Rajneesh Agrawal, and Munna Lal Goyal (from the Vaishya community) were sent to the central leadership for Rajya Sabha. Kailash Vijayvargiya was removed from the race due to being a cabinet minister in the state government. Former ministers Dr. Narottam Mishra and Dr. Arvind Bhadauria had contested the assembly elections two and a half years ago. The party formed the opinion that the opportunity for Rajya Sabha should be given to a worker who has not received an opportunity in recent elections. Former MLA Munnalal Goyal, a supporter of Jyotiraditya Scindia, has also lost the election. In such a situation, the party leadership approved the name of Rajneesh Agarwal, who has been active in the organization for a long time and works behind the scenes. Came to BJP after ABVP Rajneesh Agarwal, a resident of Mandibamora town in Sagar district, is physically challenged. Despite this, he leaves other party leaders behind when it comes to work. Agarwal, a journalism student, joined the BJP after working for a long time in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). VD put forward the name, Shivraj gave consent Rajnish Agrawal was entrusted with booth management work when VD Sharma was the state president. He also became a state minister in VD’s team. There was a discussion about sending Rajnish to the Rajya Sabha seat that fell vacant after Jyotiraditya Scindia’s resignation. However, at that time, George Kurian’s name was finalized from Delhi. This time, as soon as the formula for sending an upper-caste leader to the Rajya Sabha was decided, VD Sharma put forward Rajnish Agrawal’s name. Shivraj Singh Chouhan also agreed to Rajnish as the most suitable candidate. Rajnish said – I didn’t go to the CM to ask for a ticket due to hesitation In a conversation with Dainik Bhaskar, Rajnish Agrawal said – It is only possible in our party that an ordinary worker can be sent to a high house like the Rajya Sabha. Due to hesitation, I couldn’t even go to Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav to tell him to keep me in mind. For the past several days, I haven’t been able to meet State President Hemant Khandelwal. I am grateful that he gave me this opportunity. Nitin Nabin had worked in Yuva Morcha team BJP National President Nitin Nabin and Rajneesh Agrawal have worked together in the Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha. Rajneesh Agrawal said – Nitin Nabin was made the state in-charge of MP BJP Yuva Morcha in 2010. At that time, Jitu Jirati was the state president. I was the state general secretary in his team. My wedding was on December 15, 2011. I invited Nitin ji and jokingly said, ‘You will be the one to put me on the horse at the wedding.’ He said, ‘I will come to the wedding.’ Tarun Chugh to go to Rajya Sabha from MP to create balance in Punjab Jyotiraditya Scindia had resigned from his Rajya Sabha membership after becoming a Lok Sabha MP on a BJP ticket from Guna. On Scindia’s seat, Kerala’s Christian leader George Kurian was sent to Rajya Sabha from MP. Kurian is the Minister of State for Fisheries and Dairy in the central government. He recently contested the assembly elections from Kerala but lost. This time, BJP has not made him a Rajya Sabha candidate. Instead of Kurian, BJP has now made National General Secretary Tarun Chugh a Rajya Sabha candidate from MP to create political balance in Punjab. BJP has also not made Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu a Rajya Sabha candidate. According to sources, George Kurian will now work in the organization, and Ravneet Singh Bittu will contest the assembly elections in Punjab.