Balaghat is considered to be Bisen’s pocket borough where he has never lost an election since 1985.Bisen, 71, pitched hard for the ticket to be given to his daughter but on Thursday turned up at the SDM’s office with his wife and local BJP leaders to file his nomination.
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Talking informally to reporters later, Bisen said that he had filed the nomination as a “cover” as Mausam isn’t keeping well and is out of station. She will file the nomination when she returns, he said.
Asked if BJP has changed the Balaghat candidate, state BJP spokesperson Dr Hitesh Bajpai said, “No, there is nothing like that. He has filed the nomination as a dummy candidate and nothing more.”
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Though Mausam was declared the candidate from Balaghat on October 21, Bisen was aware of the resentment among a section of BJP workers at the extension of the Bisen lineage over the seat.
His wife Rekha Bisen is a former district panchayat president and had unsuccessfully contested in place of her husband in 1998 after Bisen was elected to the Lok Sabha. That was the only time in eight elections and 38 years that Congress won Balaghat.
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