By Express News Service
BHOPAL: Faced with anti-incumbency in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has named seven sitting Lok Sabha members, including three Union ministers for the upcoming assembly polls, but the road to success doesn’t seem easy for some of the big guns.
Four-time MP from the Satna constituency of Vindhya region Ganesh Singh has been fielded from the Satna assembly seat that falls under his parliamentary constituency. But the powerful OBC leader could find things a bit too hard as the upper caste, particularly Brahmins, hold a decisive sway here.
In the neighbouring Sidhi district, the party has fielded second-time Lok Sabha member Riti Pathak from Sidhi assembly seat. The seat has been won in the last three polls by BJP’s veteran Brahmin leader Kedarnath Shukla, who has been denied a ticket possibly over the July 2023 controversy generated by a viral video showing his alleged supporter Pravesh Shukla urinating on a tribal man.
With Kedarnath Shukla being among those few BJP politicians, whose vote has increased in every assembly poll, he is readying to contest against Pathak as an independent candidate, sources close to Shukla’s family said.
In the Gadarwara seat in central MP, the ruling party has fielded a third-time MP from Hoshangabad Pratap Singh, who, according to sources, was lobbying for a ticket from either Tendukheda seat or Seoni-Malwa as both these seats have a sizeable chunk of Jat community voters.
Not only does the Gadarwara seat have a lower number of Jat voters, but also the denial of tickets to Brahmin and Kourav-Patel ticket aspirants could make things tough for him.
In the Jabalpur-West seat, from where the fourth-time sitting Jabalpur MP and former state BJP president Rakesh Singh has been fielded, the going doesn’t seem to be too easy because sitting Congress MLA and former minister Tarun Bhanot is considered a much stronger candidate.
Bhanot who belongs to a powerful Congress family had won the seat even in 2013 at the peak of the Modi wave.
In the adjoining Mandla district, sitting MP from the Mandla-ST seat and Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste makes a return to Vidhan Sabha polls from the Niwas-ST seat.
If the sitting Congress MLA from the seat Ashok Marskole is again fielded, it might be a tough battle for the Union minister.
Day after 2nd list, party releases 3rd listA day after naming 39 candidates in its second list, the BJP came out with the third list of just one candidate – Monika Batti.
A law graduate, Batti is named the candidate from the Amarwara-ST seat in Chhindwara district, which has been the state Congress chief Kamal Nath’s pocket borough for over 40 years.
Monika, who quit as the president of Akhil Bhartiya Gondwana Party, is the daughter of powerful tribal politician Late Manmohan Shah Batti, who had won the same Amarwara-ST seat in 2003 on Gondwana Gantantra Party ticket.
Amarwara-ST seat of Chhindwara district has been won by Kamlesh Shah in the last two polls.
All seven seats of Chhindwara were won by the Congress in 2018.
BHOPAL: Faced with anti-incumbency in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has named seven sitting Lok Sabha members, including three Union ministers for the upcoming assembly polls, but the road to success doesn’t seem easy for some of the big guns.
Four-time MP from the Satna constituency of Vindhya region Ganesh Singh has been fielded from the Satna assembly seat that falls under his parliamentary constituency. But the powerful OBC leader could find things a bit too hard as the upper caste, particularly Brahmins, hold a decisive sway here.
In the neighbouring Sidhi district, the party has fielded second-time Lok Sabha member Riti Pathak from Sidhi assembly seat. The seat has been won in the last three polls by BJP’s veteran Brahmin leader Kedarnath Shukla, who has been denied a ticket possibly over the July 2023 controversy generated by a viral video showing his alleged supporter Pravesh Shukla urinating on a tribal man.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
With Kedarnath Shukla being among those few BJP politicians, whose vote has increased in every assembly poll, he is readying to contest against Pathak as an independent candidate, sources close to Shukla’s family said.
In the Gadarwara seat in central MP, the ruling party has fielded a third-time MP from Hoshangabad Pratap Singh, who, according to sources, was lobbying for a ticket from either Tendukheda seat or Seoni-Malwa as both these seats have a sizeable chunk of Jat community voters.
Not only does the Gadarwara seat have a lower number of Jat voters, but also the denial of tickets to Brahmin and Kourav-Patel ticket aspirants could make things tough for him.
In the Jabalpur-West seat, from where the fourth-time sitting Jabalpur MP and former state BJP president Rakesh Singh has been fielded, the going doesn’t seem to be too easy because sitting Congress MLA and former minister Tarun Bhanot is considered a much stronger candidate.
Bhanot who belongs to a powerful Congress family had won the seat even in 2013 at the peak of the Modi wave.
In the adjoining Mandla district, sitting MP from the Mandla-ST seat and Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste makes a return to Vidhan Sabha polls from the Niwas-ST seat.
If the sitting Congress MLA from the seat Ashok Marskole is again fielded, it might be a tough battle for the Union minister.
Day after 2nd list, party releases 3rd list
A day after naming 39 candidates in its second list, the BJP came out with the third list of just one candidate – Monika Batti.
A law graduate, Batti is named the candidate from the Amarwara-ST seat in Chhindwara district, which has been the state Congress chief Kamal Nath’s pocket borough for over 40 years.
Monika, who quit as the president of Akhil Bhartiya Gondwana Party, is the daughter of powerful tribal politician Late Manmohan Shah Batti, who had won the same Amarwara-ST seat in 2003 on Gondwana Gantantra Party ticket.
Amarwara-ST seat of Chhindwara district has been won by Kamlesh Shah in the last two polls.
All seven seats of Chhindwara were won by the Congress in 2018.
