Bhopal: Two fringe outfits in the state are again readying to flex political muscles and extract their pound of flesh. That they do not enough political muscle is not a deterrent for these organisations.
Anti-quota outfit Samanya Picchdaa Evam Alpsankhyak Samaj (Sapaks) and the Rajput Karni Sena (RKS) had given the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) anxious moments in last year's assembly polls.
While Sapaks is a political outfit the RJS is a social organisation.
By declaring that it would field candidates from 15 seats including Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Guna, Sapaks is making its political ambitions clear.
On March 31, it is holding a convention in Bhopal to announce its candidates.
Before the assembly elections, Sapaks, which made its political foray only last year, promised to change the narrative.
But results did not back that claim.
Unfazed by the poor show, it is going ahead with plans to field candidates for Lok Sabha elections from nine states across the country, including the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.
In Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, the party fielded candidates from 109 out of a total of 230 seats.
The number was fairly good for a fledgling outfit testing political waters for the first time.
The party's narrative did not catch the fancy of the electorate.
In terms of poll percentage, it got an abysmal 0.4 per cent of votes.
Even the highest number of votes polled by its candidate did not cross the 3,000 mark.
So, in the end, all assertions about making a dent went for a toss.
The Sapaks is now busy chalking out fresh plans to make amends.
It is forming core committees and there is an air of urgency about all its preparations.
Though it is unlikely to make an impact, the presence of the party will add a dash of colour to the polls in the state.
Bureaucrat-turned-politician Hiralal Trivedi, the national president of the Sapaks, is likely to be the candidate from Bhopal where Congress stalwart Digvijaya Singh is in the fray to wrest the seat from BJP after three decades.
Trivedi, who is also the brainchild behind the Sapkas movement, was non-committal on the candidate at this juncture.
“If the party decides to make me candidate from the state capital, I would concentrate on creating awareness among voters about the necessity for such an outfit. The objective is not victory. If it happens, we will not shy away from the responsibility. There should be at least one person in the parliament to raise issues in a fair, reasonable and candid manner," he said.
The presence of Sapaks in 15 constituencies can at best have a nuisance value.
‘Padmavat’ put spotlight on Karni Sena
The Rajput Karni Sena also wants to dabble in polls
But the RKS, which had hit headlines in neighbouring state of Rajasthan for demonstrations against Hindi film 'Padmavat', film does not want to be seen as a laggard, when it comes to espousing cause of reservation for Rajputs.
Incidentally, RKS chief Lokendra Singh Kalvi will be in Bhopal the day SAPAKS will hold the convention.
Talking to Onmanorama on phone, Kalvi said talks are on with all political parties.
He claimed "four officer-bearers of the organization would get tickets from both the Congress and the BJP to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
"Once it happens the office-bearers will resign from the Karni Sena and contest the election," he said.
He denied reports that he himself would contest.
There was talk that he would contest from Chittorgarh or in Rajasthan.
"There is no truth in it. If I contest, it will defeat the purpose of Rajput Karni Sena," he said.
He will be in Bhopal on March 31. "In Bhopal I will meet Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and prevail upon him, among other things, to implement 10 per cent reservation for general category," he said.
How these fringe players want to extract their pound of flesh during poll time is now anybody's guess.
