Bhopal:

The Congress on Monday night declared its candidate for the last remaining assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, Amla in Betul district, but with a bureaucrat who was tipped to be the party nominee not getting government’s nod in time to quit service, the ticket has gone to someone else for the next month’s polls.

The opposition party fielded its member Manoj Malve from Amla and with this, it has completed the process of putting up nominees on all the 230 assembly seats for the November 17 elections.

The Congress, in two separate lists, had declared 229 candidates with only the Amla seat left out.

Earlier, Betul deputy collector Nisha Bangre, whose resignation is awaiting the state government’s approval, was tipped to be the Congress candidate from the constituency.

However, after the announcement of Mr Malve’s candidature, suspense over Ms Bangre’s entry into poll fray has ended.

Ms Bangre has approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking direction to the government for speedy acceptance of her resignation, which she tendered on June 22.

However, the bureaucrat’s petition had been pending as she faces disciplinary proceedings, her counsel, senior advocate Brian De Silva, had said earlier.

While hearing her petition, the High Court in Jabalpur earlier last week directed the state government to take a decision by October 23 on her resignation from service and disciplinary proceedings against her.

With the Congress fielding candidates on all the 230 seats in MP, it is clear the national outfit has not entered into any tie-up with its two allies in the INDIA bloc, the Samajwadi Party (SP) or the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The SP and the AAP have come out with separate lists of candidates for the polls in the BJP-ruled state.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Aam Aadmi Party is ready to contest the upcoming assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan with full strength and the names of candidates will be declared soon, its national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Monday.

The Election Commission has announced that assembly polls in Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana will be held on different days beginning November 7 and the votes will be counted on December 3.

Asked about the AAP’s preparation for the polls, Mr Kejriwal said, “We are prepared to contest the elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh with full strength.”

When asked whether his party will contest the elections as part of the INDIA bloc, he said that “whatever happens will be apprised”.

Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are currently ruled by the Congress, which like the AAP is a partner in the opposition INDIA bloc.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Energy Minister Piyush Goyal and senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, near Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. File photo
| Photo Credit: A.M. Faruqui

Amid the debate over Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief ministerial face for the upcoming assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal has said the ‘lotus’ is his party’s face in every election.

Political circles in Madhya Pradesh are abuzz with speculation about plans of the ruling BJP’s central leadership after it fielded a number of stalwarts including Union Ministers as candidates for the MP Assembly polls.

Also read: People’s choice will be CM face in Madhya Pradesh: Kamal Nath

Various statements made by BJP leaders also fuelled a debate over the party’s chief ministerial face.

Asked about the BJP’s chief ministerial face in Madhya Pradesh, Goyal, while talking to reporters in Neemuch on Sunday, said, “Lotus is our face in every election. Lotus is revered by all of us. We go among the people with lotus.”

“We all are workers and have a commitment to make India a developed country,” he said.

“We are committed to bring joy and enthusiasm in the life of every Indian, to fulfill all their aspirations, to serve for a bright future, welfare of the poor and good governance,” the Union Minister said, and expressed confidence that his party will emerge victorious in the upcoming polls.

A recent statement of MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan prompted the main opposition Congress to claim that after being sidelined, he was trying to put pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking at a gathering in Dindori last week, Mr. Chouhan asked the public whether he is running a good government or a bad government.

“…So, should this government move ahead or not? Should ‘Mama’ (maternal uncle, as he is popularly called) become chief minister or not?” he asked.

Priyanka’s dig at BJP

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, while addressing a public meeting in Madhya Pradesh on October 5, claimed Mr. Chouhan will not get the top post after the elections.

Reacting to Mr. Chouhan’s remarks made in Dindori, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath on Saturday claimed the CM was trying to put pressure on PM Modi.

Eight-term MLA and senior state cabinet minister Gopal Bhargava, speaking at a gathering earlier this month in his constituency Rehli in Sagar district, said he would be contesting his last election, and he also felt that in this election no one was being projected as the chief minister candidate.

“It is not being told who will be the chief minister….I felt he (his Guru) must have some wish, that the word has come from God,” Mr. Bhargava said.

Mr. Chouhan, the longest serving chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, has been seen of late getting emotional at public events and rallies.

At an event held in his home-turf Budhni recently, he asked people if he should contest the election or not. During a rally, he told women that they would miss a “brother” when he is not around.

The BJP has so far announced candidates for 79 out of the total 230 assembly seats in the state. The candidates include Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste as well as senior leader from Indore Kailash Vijayvargiya, all political heavyweights being seen as contenders for the chief minister’s post.

Last week, Mr. Vijayvargiya said he was contesting the election not to become just an MLA, and the party would give him some important responsibility.

In the 2018 MP assembly polls, the Congress won a maximum of 114 seats in the 230-member House, while the BJP bagged 109 seats.

The Congress formed a coalition government under Kamal Nath with the support of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and independent candidates.

The Nath government, however, collapsed after 15 months when a section of Congress MLAs, most of them loyal to Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, quit and joined the BJP.

The saffron party returned to power in March 2020 with Shivraj Singh Chouhan as Chief Minister once again.