The party also suspended the primary membership of its five mandal presidents and convener of the party’s district Prashikshan Prakosht (training cell) Siddharth Malaiya (son of Jayant Malaiya), he said.
According to Parashar, the action was taken for their alleged involvement in anti-party activities during the bypoll, for which polling was held on April 17 and the votes were counted on May 2.
The bypoll was necessitated after Lodhi left the Congress and joined the BJP late last year. For his bypoll defeat, Lodhi had held Jayant Malaiya and his family responsible.
Union minister Prahlad Patel, who represents Damoh Lok Sabha seat, had also blamed “conspiracies” of insiders for the party’s defeat in the Damoh bypoll.
Jayant Malaiya, who was a BJP MLA for several terms from the area earlier, had stayed away from the bypoll campaign, sources said, adding that there were several local leaders in the party who were upset over Lodhi joining it.
In the 2018 assembly polls, Lodhi had defeated Malaiya. At that time, Lodhi was with the Congress. State Home minister Narottam Mishra had also said that the BJP lost the Damoh seat “due to our own Jaichands”.
It is a common reference for an insider who betrays, the term coming from the role played by Jaichand who back- stabbed Prithviraj Chauhan in the latter’s fight against invader Muhammad Ghori in the 12th century.
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