New Delhi: Internal fissures within the Bharatiya Janata Party came to the fore after hundreds of supporters of a senior party leader in Madhya Pradesh Narottam Mishra clashed with police and blocked a national highway for 12 hours in protest after he was denied a ticket for an upcoming bypoll election.According to local authorities, enraged BJP workers pelted stones at police, overturned vehicles, and smashed the windows of commercial trucks and commuter cars. Demonstrators also damaged four police vehicles and attempted to set another on fire, said police. The Datia administration said that around eight police personnel and officials were injured in the violent protest which started on the evening of July 10 and went on till dawn on July 11.Mishra, an influential former minister who helmed the state’s home portfolio during the previous BJP government, had lost his traditional bastion of Datia in the 2023 assembly elections by a narrow margin of just over 7,700 votes. The bypoll was necessitated after the sitting Congress MLA, Rajendra Bharti, was disqualified upon being convicted in a criminal case in April. However, in a surprise move, the BJP declared that its candidate for the bypoll would be Ashutosh Tiwari, former president of the MP Housing Board and former divisional organisation secretary of the MP BJP. This did not go down well with Mishra’s supporters, who expected him to be fielded from the constituency he won thrice in the past.Not only did his supporters stage a disruptive protest bringing traffic to a standstill, the district president of Datia along with his supporters and several other office-bearers resigned from their posts in support of Mishra. They even threatened to quit the primary membership of the BJP if the decision to field Tiwari was not reversed. Superintendent of Police Datia Mayur Khandelwal described the protestors as “hooddangi” (hooligans), saying that they “tried to disturb the atmosphere” of Datia city.VIDEO | Madhya Pradesh: Heavy police has been deployed after BJP workers protest over former Madhya Pradesh minister Narottam Mishra being denied a ticket by the BJP for the Datia Assembly bypoll. Swapnil Wankhade, District Magistrate of Datia, says, "There was an 11.5-12-hour… pic.twitter.com/orufXB5yiH— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 11, 2026 ‘Pelted stones at the police personnel’Datia District Magistrate Swapnil Wankhede said the blockade began around 5 pm on Friday, resulting in a traffic jam on NH-44 stretching for 15-20 kms. This impacted not just Datia but also adjoining areas of Gwalior, Shivpuri and Jhansi.Wankhede said that buses and ambulances were stuck in the jam, causing widespread difficulty to the public, but despite several appeals, the protestors did not clear the road. He said the administration spent the entire night trying to persuade the protestors to retreat but they did not listen.At 4 am on Saturday, additional forces were called in. The DM and district police chief told reporters that while they were trying to convince the protestors to withdraw the protest, they pelted stones at the police personnel, following which tear gas was used to disperse them.SP Khandelwal said that after the police used tear gas, the protestors pelted stones at them again.Wankhede claimed that the police did not lathi-charge the crowd. The official said that eight police personnel were injured in the stone-pelting. While a sub-divisional police officer suffered an injury to his hand, the SP and the additional SP were also hurt, said the DM. “Even though I was wearing a helmet, I also sustained a blow to my head,” he said.‘Party is paramount’Upset over the party’s decision to deny Mishra a ticket, Datia BJP president Raghuvir Singh Kushwaha on July 10 along with a host of other office-bearers and workers, including the 291 booth heads of Datia Assembly seat and zilla panchayat president, resigned from all posts. He said the party’s decision was “one-sided” and “disregarded” the party workers. Kushwaha issued an ultimatum to the BJP top leadership that if Mishra was not declared as the bypoll candidate within 24 hours, he, along with his colleagues, would also resign from the primary membership of the party. On July 11, Kushwaha said that thousands of party workers had gathered outside the Datia office and noted that they were “angry.” He reiterated that they demanded the change in the candidate. Kushwaha also said that the way the police handled the protest was unjust towards the BJP workers. “They are BJP workers, not criminals. The way you are mistreating them, even when our own government is in power, is wrong,” he said.In contrast to his supporters’ fury, Narottam Mishra maintained a diplomatic public stance.“This is the party’s decision,” he said on being denied a ticket. However, he appealed to all party workers to not indulge in violent protests. “I urge all party workers, especially after seeing videos on social media of workers pouring petrol or kerosene, not to engage in such actions. Within the party forum, views are expressed in an appropriate manner. They are not conveyed in this fashion,” he told reporters.Kailash Vijayvargiya, a senior BJP leader and cabinet minister, responded to media queries in a similar manner, saying the party decision was paramount. “There is democracy inside the BJP. The karyakarta express themselves. But the BJP karyakarta is so disciplined that once we sit them down, they will settle. And Ashutosh Tiwari will win with a heavy margin,” he told reporters.Hemant Khandelwal, BJP MP president, seemed to throw his weight behind Tiwari. On Friday evening, Khandelwal welcomed Tiwari at his Bhopal residence and congratulated him for being declared the candidate from Datia.Madhya Pradesh Congress President Jitu Patwari said the violent protest was a good reason why the district police chief and the district magistrate should be replaced before the bypolls. They are unable to maintain law and order, said Patwari. The Congress leader also said that the people of Datia would exact revenge against the BJP for the way in which Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti was “conspiratorially removed” as a legislator.Bharti, who defeated Mishra in 2023, was disqualified as an MLA after being sentenced to three years in prison by a Delhi court in April in a cheating case involving the forging of bank records to obtain illegal interest payments between 1998 and 2011. The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by Bharti seeking a stay on his conviction.