New Delhi, Nov. 9: The BJP is worried it has caught the dissidence virus from the Congress.

The party’s central leadership is alarmed at the level of dissent triggered by ticket distribution in election-bound states, particularly Delhi and Madhya Pradesh.

Senior leaders involved in candidate selection dismiss the unrest among what they call “a small section of workers” as natural and reflective of rising aspirations in a big party.

But middle-rung leaders disagree. Brazen nepotism has crept into the party after it tasted power at the Centre, they say.

“Attacking the Congress for the dynastic stranglehold has been our pet theme. Now most of our leaders want tickets for their sons, spouses and relatives. The other alarming trend is to ignore committed party workers in favour of outsiders and those who offer money to senior leaders,” a BJP MP alleged.

Almost every senior party leader sought a ticket for a relative in Madhya Pradesh, though not all had their way, sources said. Over a dozen, including former chief ministers Virendra Saklecha, Kailash Joshi and Sunderlal Patwa, ministers Laxmi Narain Pande and Vikram Verma, and former MP Kailash Sarang, managed tickets for their kin.

Sources said BJP veterans like Pyarelal Khandelwal, Kaptan Singh Solanki and B.S. Mathur had expressed reservations over many selections.

In Delhi, where the BJP is confident of coming back to power, workers held violent demonstrations at the party headquarters.

Senior state leader .P. Kohli alleged at a central election committee meeting that candidates were decided on the basis of gifts, not merit.

Party workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh protested the decision to give only one ticket to their representatives when voters from the two states make up 25 per cent of the electorate in Delhi.

There is another problem — the powerful “bania lobby” is not happy about the prospect of the “Punjabi lobby” getting revived with Vijay Kumar Malhotra’s selection as candidate for Delhi chief minister.

A Delhi leader said the party would pay for wrong ticket distribution. Unlike the Congress, the BJP is a cadre-based party and workers’ reluctance to work sincerely would tell on the outcome.

Senior leaders L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh and M. Venkaiah Naidu recently stressed at a booth workers’ conference in Jaipur that workers should see only the symbol and not the candidate.