Indore:

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday compared Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with former India cricket caption Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is known as one of the greatest finishers in world cricket.

Addressing an event in Indore, Rajnath Singh also hailed the BJP candidate from the Indore-1 assembly constituency for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, Kailash Vijayvargiya and called him Hardik Pandya of the politics of the state.

“I have called Shivraj ji ‘Dhoni’ (Mahendra Singh Dhoni). It doesn’t mean how it started, he knows how to win after a great finish. If Shivraj ji is Dhoni, Kailashji is Hardik Pandya of Madya Pradesh politics,” Rajnath Singh said.

Rajnath Singh inaugurated the election office of Kailash Vijayvargiya, in Indore.

“BJP has formed government for the last two decades in Madhya Pradesh…We have ruled for a long time. No one can deny the fact that 17-18 years ago Madhya Pradesh was known as ‘Bimaru Rajya’ and it is BJP and Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government that has done the work of taking it out from ‘Bimaru’ state…” Rajnath Singh added.

He further said that when Congress leader Kamal Nath was in power, the Central Government had sanctioned eight lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana, but the then government returned 2 lakh houses.

“Today, when the whole of India, including Madhya Pradesh, is ready to take a new leap, it is very important to form the BJP government again in these assembly elections,” Rajnath Singh said.

He further said that to promote investment here, not one but four investment corridors are being constructed.

“Madhya Pradesh has been called the heart of India. I believe that if Madhya Pradesh is the heart of India, then Indore is the heartbeat of that heart. And if there is anyone who is the heartbeat of this Indore, then your popular candidate is Kailash Vijayvargiya,” he added.

Kailash Vijayvargiya is the BJP candidate from the Indore-1 constituency for the November 17 MP assembly elections. He is pitted against sitting legislator and Congress leader Sanjay Shukla.

Madhya Pradesh is one of the five states set to hold elections this year. The state is scheduled to undergo polls on November 17 and the counting of votes will take place on December 3. Voters will choose legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies.

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

Indore:

National General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday took a jibe at the Congress party over replacing the candidates in four assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh saying ‘saudebaazi’ is happening daily in the Congress.

The Congress party on Wednesday issued a revised list in which the candidates for four assembly constituencies have been replaced which include Sumawali seat in Morena district, Pipariya (Scheduled Caste) seat in Narmadapuram district, Badnagar seat in Ujjain district and Jaora seat in Ratlam district.

“In Congress, ‘saudebaazi’ is happening daily. In tickets (for upcoming elections), they are doing ‘saudebaazi’. They are also afraid of who can lose the election and who can win, that’s why they are changing the ticket. Overall there is instability in Congress and Congress people are saying that within the party there is corruption,” Vijayvargiya said.

Earlier, National Spokesperson of Congress party Surendra Rajput has reacted over replacement of the candidates on four assembly constituencies saying they heard the voice of party workers and people, so replaced the candidates.

Mr Rajput said, “It is a sign of living democracy. Democracy is alive in the Congress party. It is not like the Bharatiya Janata Party, once the ticket is announced, it is final. We listen to the conscience of the party workers and our tickets are not sold. If our tickets had been sold like the BJP, we would not have had the courage to change our tickets. We heard the voices of the workers and the people of the area, so we changed four tickets.”

Based on the voice of the people in the said constituencies, the party has changed the tickets with the support of the present candidate, he added.

Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to undergo polls on November 17 and the counting of votes will take place on December 3.

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

Sagar:

A case has been registered against Madhya Pradesh Transport and Revenue Minister Govind Singh Rajput for “violation of Mode Code of Conduct” in force in the state for the assembly polls next month.

Congress has demanded his removal over “open and blatant offer that he will pay Rs 25 lakh” to the booth where most votes are cast in favour of the ruling party in the state.

According to the FIR, the action was taken following the report of the Returning Officer of the Surkhi assembly constituency.

The case was registered against the minister in Rahatgarh police station in Sagar district under IPC section 188 and section 123 of the Representation of the People Act.

Govind Singh Rajput is contesting elections from Surkhi assembly seat in the district. A purported video of Minister Rajput went viral in which he is seen announcing to give Rs 25 lakh to the polling booth “which gets the most votes” for BJP in the upcoming elections.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, senior party leader and former Mahila Congress chief Shobha Oza urged the Election Commission to bar Rajput from contesting the elections alleging that “he had openly resorted to corrupt practices by offering money to people”.

The Congress leader claimed that this was the result of the realization on part of the BJP that it was losing the electoral battle in Madhya Pradesh.

She alleged that the ruling party in the state had “now started resorting to such blatant inducements with huge cash”.

“He needs to be questioned and asked for the source of this huge amount of money that he was offering to his election booth in-charges,” she said.

Ms Oza alleged that another BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is national general secretary of the party, had offered Rs 51,000 to “agents in the booths where the Congress does not get any vote”.

Ms Oza also claimed that Rajput is close to Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

“We demand the Governor (Mangubhai Patel) to dismiss Rajput and investigate the charges against him,” she said.

Madhya Pradesh will undergo assembly polls on November 17 and the counting will take place on December 3.

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

Bhopal:

The Congress has fielded at least five former BJP leaders, including Avdhesh Nayak, against Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra from Datia seat, former Jyotiraditya Scindia-loyalist Baijnath Yadav from Kolaras seat, Neeraj Sharma against Scindia-loyalist minister Govind Singh Rajput from Surkhi seat, Rao Yadvendra Singh Yadav from Mungaoli and former BJP MP Bodh Singh Bhagat from Katangi seat.

Congress Dynasts

Seven-time MLA from Lahar (Bhind) seat and Leader of Opposition Govind Singh, whose maternal nephew Rahul Bhadauria has been fielded from Mehgaon seat in Bhind district, and Mr Singh’s close relative ex-MLA Chanda Singh Gaur has been fielded against Uma Bharti’s nephew Rahul Singh from Khargapur seat of Tikamgarh district.

In Alirajpur district of western Madhya Pradesh, both the Congress candidates come from the same family. While the first-time MLA Mukesh Patel will be a candidate from Alirajpur seat, his sister-in-law Sena Patel has been fielded from Jobat seat. In the adjoining Jhabua district, state Youth Congress’s chief Vikrant Bhuria (who lost in the 2018 polls) has been fielded from Jhabua-ST seat, which was won by his father and ex Union Minister Kantilal Bhuria in the 2019 by-election.

Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh’s son and second-time MLA Jaivardhan Singh has been fielded from the family’s stronghold Raghogarh. Digvijaya Singh’s brother Lakshman Singh has been repeated from the Chachaura seat of Guna district. The Singh family’s close relative Priyavrat Singh (also a minister in the 15-month Congress government) has been repeated from Khilchipur seat of Rajgarh district.

In Dhar district, while former Deputy Chief Minister Jamuna Devi’s nephew and third-time MLA Umang Singhar has been fielded again from Gandhwani-ST seat, second-time MLA and former minister Surendra Singh Baghel has been repeated from Kukshi-ST seat, which was won by his father Pratap Singh Baghel three times between 1972 and 1980.

In Khandwa district, Rupali Nandu Bare (daughter of Congress veteran Nandu Bare, who failed to win despite contesting twice) who as rebel candidate finished third with 25,000-plus votes has been fielded from Pandhana-ST seat, while former MLA Rajnarayan Singh Purni’s son Uttam Pal Singh will contest from Mandhata seat.

In neighbouring Khargone district, former Deputy Chief Minister Subhash Yadav’s younger son, the two-time MLA and ex-minister Sachin Yadav, will contest from the family’s stronghold Kasrawad seat, while former minister and third-time MLA Vijaylaxmi Sadho has been fielded from Maheshwar-SC seat, which was won by her father Sitaram Sadho thrice in the past.

In Indore district, former Ujjain and ex-Sanwer MLA Premchand Guddu’s daughter Rina Bhaurasi will be the candidate from Sanwer-SC seat.

Also, MLA Alok Chaturvedi (brother of former Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi) has been repeated from Chhatarpur seat, and ex-MLA Hemant Katare (son of former Leader of Opposition Satyadev Katare) will contest from his old seat Ater.

Families Of Non-Congress Parties

It’s not just members of the Congress’s political families who have been fielded in the polls. Some candidates are fighting the election from non-Congress political families as well.

In Guna district’s Bamori seat, the party has fielded former minister and ex-BJP MLA Kanhaiyalal Agrawal’s son Rishi Agrawal. His father had lost the 2020 by-election from the same seat.

In Pichhore seat, while six-time MLA KP Singh Kakkaju has been shifted to neighbouring Shivpuri seat, Shailendra Singh (son of former Shivpuri district BJP chief Padma Raje Bundela) will be the candidate from Pichhore seat. Even the candidate from Balaghat seat Anubha Munjare is the wife of ex-MLA Kankar Munjare.

New Delhi:

The BJP’s fifth list of candidates for next month’s Madhya Pradesh Assembly election could be its most “explosive”, party sources told NDTV today. When asked about the list, Home Minister Narottam Mishra declared, “List dhamakedar hee hogi. Aage dhamake hee dhamake hone wale hain, Diwali ka tyohar aane wala hai, (List will be explosive… expect fireworks… Diwali is ahead).”

The ruling party Monday ended suspense over the electoral fate of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, 24 of his ministers, and 57 sitting lawmakers, all of whom were named in the fourth list.

The party has named 136 candidates. The Assembly has 230 seats, meaning the BJP has 94 more decisions to make. Many will be made at Sunday’s meeting of the Central Election Committee.

Sources in the party’s state unit said 25 to 30 MLAs may be dropped because of negative feedback.

The list is likely during the Navratri season, which begins Sunday, because the party wants to contain protests by leaders who don’t get tickets; the hope is they will be too busy celebrating the festival.

Among those whose political future remains uncertain are nine ministers; they include Mahendra Singh Sisodiya, OPS Bhadoria, Brijendra Singh Yadav and Suresh Dhakad, all of whom are loyal to Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and who joined him in walking out of the Congress in 2020.

The fate of the nine aside, speculation persists the BJP will name Mr Scindia himself.

READ | Jyotiraditya Scindia’s State Poll Debut This Year? Aunt Sets Off Speculation

The Civil Aviation Minister is a Rajya Sabha MP but has never contested a state election. His potential candidature, though, is in line with the BJP’s tactic for this round of elections – to field a few big-name candidates in each state, like Union Ministers and MPs, with strong local connections.

READ | NDTV Exclusive: Inside Details Of BJP’s Strategy For Upcoming State Polls

In Madhya Pradesh the party has already named four other MPs and three Union Ministers.

Mr Scindia, though, may not have been the first choice; buzz about him sparked only after his aunt, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, opted out of this election citing health reasons; the 69-year-old Ms Scindia, who is Madhya Pradesh’s Sports Minister, has had Covid-19 four times since the pandemic began.

Her nephew may be fielded either from his aunt’s Shivpuri seat or any of the two other seats in Guna – Bamori or Kolaras. All three are in the Lok Sabha segment of Guna that he held from 2002 to 2014.

Meanwhile, the Congress and the BJP have taken pot-shots over lists of candidates, or lack thereof.

Mr Mishra also slammed the Congress after the opposition party referred to potential rifts within the BJP, triggered by leaders who were denied tickets. “Congress has no right to question our list. There is no trace of their own… so better if they don’t say anything,” he said.

The Congress’ national spokesperson, Ragini Nayak mocked “internal factionalism in BJP” and said, “I don’t know… maybe BJP is eagerly waiting for our list. There was a meeting day before yesterday in which (ex-Chief Minister) Kamal Nath gave a statement that 140 names were finalised (but) we should not release our list in Shraddh Paksh. There will be no opposition after release of our list…”

Madhya Pradesh will vote in a single phase on November 17. Results will be out December 3.

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Bhopal:

Congress leader Kamal Nath today mocked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over not being the face of the BJP’s election campaign in Madhya Pradesh. Mr Nath, a former chief minister, said that whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the state, Mr Chouhan involves him in his “lies”.

“That is why he (PM Modi) has excluded you from the entire election campaign. You are the first Chief Minister in this country, who is the Chief Minister but is not the Chief Minister’s face,” Mr Nath wrote on X, formerly Twitter, hours ahead of PM Modi’s visit to the state today.

The BJP will decide on the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister’s post only after the elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier said when asked if Mr Chouhan will continue in the top post.

“Lying Machine”

The “double speed of your lying machine” has troubled both the Prime Minister and the people of Madhya Pradesh, said the post addressing Mr Chouhan.

PM Modi will today address BJP workers in Bhopal to mark the culmination of his party’s ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatras’ ahead of the year-end assembly polls in MP.

Hours before the mega event, Mr Nath posted a list of Mr Chouhan’s “lies”.

“You told him (PM) in Rewa that the farmers’ income has more than doubled, but NITI Aayog report showed that the income of Madhya Pradesh farmers had decreased,” alleged Mr Nath.

In Bhopal, he said, Mr Chouhan handed a wrong leaflet to the Prime Minister that said the petrol price was less than Rs 100 per litre in Madhya Pradesh. He alleged the Chief Minister also lied over gas cylinder prices in his state.

“When the Prime Minister visited Sagar district, you made him say that the Congress government did not pay attention to Bundelkhand whereas the UPA government had given a special Bundelkhand package of Rs 7,200 crore,” added Mr Nath.

Bhopal:

Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Sunday doubted whether the money would be transferred to beneficiaries of the ruling BJP’s flagship Ladli Bahna Yojana on the scheduled date “this time”, a claim dismissed by the BJP as misleading.

Under the scheme, the government transfers Rs 1,250 to the accounts of beneficiaries on the 10th of every month.

After initially announcing to provide Rs 1,000 to beneficiaries of the Yojana, Shivraj Chouhan later said the moeny is being raised to Rs 1,250 and it will be subsequently taken to Rs 3,000.

“Sisters, I heard that this time the 10th (date) is not coming,” Kamal Nath posted on X on Sunday night.

Taking a swipe at the state government’s advertisements, Kamal Nath said after wasting crores of public money for the last four months in the name of “Das Tareekh Aa Rahi Hai” (10th is coming), this time Shivraj government is taking a “U-turn”.

“Das Tareekh Aa Rahi Hai” is the phrase used in the state government’s advertisements.

“This time the date 10 is not coming in the calendar of the BJP government. As this scheme of the government is just a means to cheat votes, similarly their 10th also turned out to be a trick,” Kamal Nath alleged.

Kamal Nath asked why Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spent people’s hard-earned money running into crores on advertisements just to remind the date for four months.

A day before, Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan announced that unmarried women above 21 years of age would get Rs 1,250 per month as assistance under Ladli Behna Yojana.

At present, there are 1.31 crore beneficiaries of this scheme.

When asked about Kamal Nath’s claims, state BJP secretary Rajneesh Agrawal said the money is transferred under this scheme after a Cabinet decision was taken as per the law.

“The Congress has a long history of cheating people so Kamala Nath is seeing the same and creating doubts to mislead the people. The people know the truth of Congress,” Rajneesh Agrawal said. 

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