In a significant political development, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has unveiled its second list of candidates for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, featuring three Union Ministers among its nominees. The announcement followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to a massive gathering of BJP workers in Bhopal.
Union Ministers Enter the Fray
The BJP’s second list showcases three Union Ministers who will contest in the Madhya Pradesh polls. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will seek re-election from Dimani, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti Prahlad Singh Patel will stand from Narsingpur, and Minister of State for Rural Development and Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste will contest from the Niwas seat.
Notably, Narendra Singh Tomar’s participation marks his return to Vidhan Sabha elections after a gap of two decades. He last secured victory in the assembly polls from Gwalior in 2003 for the second consecutive term.
Key Candidates in the Fray
The BJP’s candidate list also features Kailash Vijayvargiya, the party’s national general secretary. Vijayvargiya, who secured the Mhow seat in his native Indore district for the second time in 2013, will contest from the Indore-1 seat. This move effectively ends any possibility of his son Akash receiving a ticket, reportedly due to an incident in 2019 when Akash attacked a civic body official in Indore with a cricket bat.
Additionally, the list includes four Lok Sabha members as candidates. Ganesh Singh, a four-time MP from the Satna seat, will contest from his current constituency. Riti Pathak, a second-time sitting MP from the Sidhi Lok Sabha seat, has received the ticket for the Sishi assembly seat. Four-time Jabalpur MP Rakesh Singh is set to compete in Jabalpur-West, and third-time MP Uday Pratap Singh from the Hoshangabad seat will enter the fray in the Gadarwara seat of Narsinghpur district.
Political Dynamics and Speculations
The BJP’s strategic decision to nominate Union Ministers and MPs as candidates in Madhya Pradesh mirrors a formula employed in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, both of which are governed by the Congress. The party is also considering the possibility of Union Minister G Kishan Reddy contesting assembly polls in Telangana.
Notably, Imarti Devi, a loyalist of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who played a pivotal role in toppling the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh in 2020, has secured a place on the candidate list.
With elections scheduled for five states, including Madhya Pradesh, later this year, the BJP is positioning itself for a competitive electoral battle. In the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress assumed power in Madhya Pradesh, but the BJP formed the government in 2020 following a political shift led by Jyotiraditya Scindia, who defected from the Congress along with 22 MLAs.
Sources By Agencies