Bhopal: Ending speculations on Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s candidature for the 17 November assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday fielded him from his existing Budhni constituency, in Sehore district. The party has, however, steered clear of announcing a CM face if voted back to power in the state, and has instead maintained that it will contest the election under collective leadership.
The announcement of Chouhan’s candidature comes amid rumours of him being sidelined in the party and of the BJP losing faith in the leader. In March last year, Chouhan became the BJP’s longest-serving CM in terms of total time spent in office.
On Monday, the day the Election Commission announced the date for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, the BJP announced its fourth list of candidates for the polls, this time for 57 assembly seats. With this, the BJP has now announced candidates for 136 of the 230 assembly seats in the state.
In addition to Chouhan, the fourth list of BJP candidates saw tickets being allocated to 19 state ministers, seven of whom are known to be loyalists of Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Another Scindia loyalist, a sitting MLA, has also been given a ticket from his current constituency.
Scindia, who left the Congress along with 22 MLAs in 2020 — bringing down the previous Kamal Nath-led Congress government in the state — has long been seen as a CM aspirant in Madhya Pradesh.
Responding to the list of candidates, Chouhan said, “I am grateful to the central leadership. The names declared in the list have come according to the recommendations sent by the state. Now out of the 230 seats, candidates on 136 have been announced and the rest will also come out soon.”
He added: “But where is the Congress list? Now the election date has come, but the Congress list has not come… We along with our workers have entered the election field under the guidance of [the] central leadership. We will work with our workers with all our might and will definately form BJP government [in the state].”
Meanwhile in a post on social media platform X (previously Twitter), Congress leader Kamal Nath said, “In the fourth list of the BJP, once again the same faces are in the fray, whom the people of Madhya Pradesh consider to be symbol of corruption.”
He added: “By putting them forward, BJP has accepted defeat before the fight. This is not preparation for election, it is preparation for farewell.”
Those who made it
Those who made it to the fourth list of BJP candidates in the state include state Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who has been fielded from the Datia constituency, Finance Minister Jagdish Deora from Malhargarh, Higher Education Minister Mohan Yadav from Ujjain South, Minister of Forest Kunwar Vijay Shah from Harsud, Minister of Medical Education and Bhopal Gas Tragedy and Relief Rehabilitation Vishvas Kailash Sarang from Narela, Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel from Harda, Mineral Resources and Labour Minister Brijendra Pratap Singh from Panna and Minister of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Science & Technology, Om Prakash Sakhlecha from Jawad, Neemuch.
Meanwhile, PWD Minister Gopal Bhargava has been fielded from Rehli constituency and Minister of Urban Development and Housing Bhupendra Singh from Kurai in Sagar district.
At an event in Rehli Saturday, Bhargava, an eight-time MLA from the constitutnecy, said his “guru” (spiritual leader) had asked him to contest the polls one more time and that this would be his last election.
Also a CM aspirant, according to party sources, Bhargava said, “It is my guru ji‘s command that I contest one more election. Then even I thought, this time no one has been projected as the CM face. If guru ji is asking me to contest election, then maybe it is a sign from God.”
Others to be fielded in the fourth list include, Rajendra Shukla and Rahul Singh Lodhi who were made Minister of Public Relations and Public Health Engineering and Minister of State earlier this year and have been fielded from Rewa and Khargapur.
Girish Gautam, speaker in the current house, has been fielded from Deotalab.
Seven ministers from the Scindia camp who made it to the fourth list, included Transport Minister Govind Singh Rajput, who is being fielded from Surkhi, Power Minister Pradhuman Singh Tomar from Gwalior, Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Bisahulal Singh from Annupur, Minister for New Renewable Energy and Environment department Hardeep Singh Dang from Suwasra, Water Resources Minister Tulsiram Silawat from Sanwer, Minister for Industry Policy and Investment Promotion Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon from Badnawar and Minister of Public Health and Family Welfare Prabhuram Choudhary from Sanchi.
Kunwar Pradhyuman Singh Lodhi, the sitting MLA from Malhara, who had won the 2018 election on a Congress ticket but switched to the BJP in 2020, has been fielded from the same constituency.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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