Madhya Pradesh: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has revealed its initial list for the upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, showing a distinct focus on constituencies it lost in the 2018 and some even in the 2013 elections.
The party has demonstrated confidence in 14 candidates, including three former ministers who faced defeat in the last election.
In an apparent shift in strategy, the BJP released its first list comprising 39 candidates, with five of them being women, for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections. This move came before the official announcement of the election schedule, giving the BJP an advantage in terms of election readiness and candidate selection compared to its main rival, the Congress.
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The state of Madhya Pradesh, with a 230-member legislative assembly, is expected to hold its assembly elections by the end of this year.
Last week, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, a relatively minor player in the state’s bipolar political landscape, had unveiled its initial list of seven candidates, making it the first political party to do so.
The BJP’s selection of 39 candidates for constituencies it lost in the previous assembly polls in November 2018 indicates its attempt to regain lost ground from the Congress, which assumed power in December 2018 but was subsequently voted out in March 2020.
Among the constituencies, the BJP had struggled to secure victory in some during the 2013 elections as well.
A closer examination of the list, which includes several seats reserved for SC/ST candidates, reveals that the BJP has entrusted its confidence to 14 candidates, including three former state ministers—Lalsingh Arya, Lalit Yadav, and Omprakash Dhurwey—who experienced electoral defeat five years ago.
Rajkumar Karrahe, who resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) earlier on the same day, found his name among the announced candidates. The BJP has nominated him to contest from Lanji in Balaghat district.
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As per the list provided by BJP’s general secretary Arun Singh, candidates Dhruv Narayan Singh and Alok Sharma will contest from Central Bhopal and North Bhopal respectively. Former minister Arya and Pritam Lodhi will be contesting from Gohad (SC) and Pichhore in Shivpuri district, respectively.
The list also features names such as Sarla Vijendra Rawat (Sabalgarh), Adal Singh Kansana (Sumawali), Priyanka Meena (Chahoura), Jagannath Singh Raghuvanshi (Chanderi), Veerendra Singh Lambardar (Banda), Kamakhya Pratap Singh (Maharajpur), Lalita Yadav (Chhatarpur), Lakhan Patel (Patharyia), Rajesh Kumar Verma (Gunndaor-SC), Surendra Singh Gaharwar (Chitrakoot), Heersingh Shyam (Pushrajgarh-ST), Dhirendra Singh (Barwara-ST), Neeraj Thakur (Bargi), and Anchal Sonkar (Jabalpur East).
Other candidates in the list include Omprakash Dhurwey (Shahpura-ST), Dr Vijay Anand Marawai (Bichhiya-ST), Bhagat Singh Netam (Baihar-ST), Kamal Maskole (Barghat-ST), Mahendra Nagesh (Gotegaon-SC), Nanabhau Mohod (Saunsar), Prakash Uikey (Pandhurna-ST), and Chandrashekhar Deshmukh (Multai).
The BJP’s nominations extend to Mahendra Singh Chouhan (Bhainsdehi-ST), Rajesh Sonkar (Sonkatch-SC), Rajkumar Mev (Maheshwar-SC), Atmaram Patel (Kasrawad), Nagr Singh Chouhan (Alirajpur-ST), Bhanua Bhuriya (Jhabua ST), Nirmala Bhuriya (Petlawad-ST), Jaydeep Patel (Kukshi ST), Kalu Singh Thakur (Dharampuri-ST), Madhua Verma (Rau), Tarachand Goyal (Tarana-SC), and Satish Malivya (Ghatiya-SC).