Growing emotional, Mishra said, “There is no major internal conflict within the BJP; I am telling you the truth… From the 16th, I will camp right here myself. Together with all the workers, I will bow my head in respect at every single doorstep in Datia. I will visit every single village. I will ensure Ashutosh’s victory.”

The public display of loyalty came after a meeting of Chief Minister Yadav, state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal and the central leadership. For the party, this is significant as “the party organisation has for now managed to win over Mishra” to help “contain a rebellion that threatened to overshadow the by-election campaign”, party sources said.

The episode also leaves Mishra at an inflection point in his political career. Once regarded as one of the BJP’s most influential leaders in Madhya Pradesh and a potential chief ministerial contender, he has now suffered consecutive setbacks — the 2023 Assembly defeat followed by the denial of a bypoll ticket that many believed would mark his return.

Meanwhile, the Congress candidate, Ghanshayam Singh, has been asserting that the BJP has damaged itself by not nominating Mishra. Singh not only belongs to Datia’s erstwhile royal family, which commands respect among the local population, but has also won the seat twice, in 1993 and 2003, on the Congress ticket. He also won the neighbouring Sewda seat for the Congress in 2018 but finished a close second in the seat to BJP candidate Pradeep Agrawal in the 2023 Assembly polls.