Nachiket Deuskar Moneycontrol News
As many as 2,907 candidates from 230 assembly seats are in the fray for the upcoming state polls in Madhya Pradesh.
The central Indian state will head for polling in a single phase on November 28. Counting of votes will happen on December 11 along with Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana.
The stakes are high for both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in the state. Congress is trying to wrest the state from the BJP, which has been in power for 15 years. The outcome of the assembly polls in the five states will also set the stage for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
As many as 34 candidates — the highest number — will contest from Bhind district’s Mehgaon constituency. Panna district’s Gunnor seat, on the other hand, will witness a contest between the lowest number of nominees — four.
There are 1,102 Independent candidates in the fray across the 230 constituencies. Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded 227 candidates while Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) is contesting from 51 seats.
Similar to the general political landscape in the state, the contest in most seats will directly be between the incumbent BJP and the challenger Congress.
In 2013, BJP had won 165 seats, Congress 58, BSP had won four and Independents had won three seats.
Here’s a look at some of the key constituencies:
Budhni
The Budhni Assembly seat is currently held by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The contest here will be directly between the chief minister and former Union minister and former Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Arun Yadav.
In 2013, Chouhan had defeated Congress’ Mahendra Singh Chauhan by 84,805.
The BJP government in the state is facing anti-incumbency after being in power for 15 years. However, observers suggest that the chief minister continues to be popular after holding the state’s top office for 13 years.
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Mandsaur
Mandsaur has often been referred to as the epicentre of the farmers’ agitation in the state.
It was in Mandsaur on June 6, 2017, that police had fired at protesters who were demanding better prices for their harvest. Six protesters were killed in the firing, leading to violent protests that spread to neighbouring districts. A day later, a local factory was torched by protesters.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi had staged a rally here this year to mark the first anniversary of the farmer protests. Agrarian distress is being seen as one of the key factors in this election.
BJP has retained the sitting Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Yashpal Singh Sisodiya. Sisodiya is being challenged by Congress’ Narendra Nahata. Congress is hoping to make large gains in the rural areas of the Malwa region.
In 2013, Sisodiya had beaten Congress candidate Mahendra Singh Gurjar by around 24,295 votes.
Waraseoni
This constituency, which is located close to the state’s border with Maharashtra, is also witnessing an interesting battle. Incumbent BJP MLA Yogendra Nirmal is being challenged by CM Chouhan’s brother-in-law Sanjay Singh Masani.
Masani joined the Congress on November 3, saying the state needs Congress state unit chief Kamal Nath, not Chouhan, as the chief minister. Masani is the brother of Chouhan's wife Sadhna Singh.
BJP MLA Nirmal had beaten Congress’ Pradeep Amritlal Jaiswal by 17,755 votes in 2013. Jaiswal had beaten BJP candidate Bodh Singh Bhagat in 2008 by over 15,000 votes. Incidentally, Jaiswal had beaten Nirmal in the 2003 assembly election by just over 1,000 votes.
Also read: Key trends from the state’s binary politics
Govindpura
This is one of the constituencies from Bhopal district. No Congress candidate has won this seat since the 1972 assembly polls. The seat has been held by former chief minister Babulal Gaur — CM Chouhan’s predecessor — since 1980, effectively making it a BJP bastion.
This time, BJP has fielded Gaur’s daughter Krishna Gaur against Congress’ Girish Sharma.
The move to filed Krishna instead of Babulal Gaur may be aimed at cutting the anti-incumbency sentiment that the government might be facing.
In 2013, Babulal Gaur had won with a margin of over 69,600 votes, up from a margin over around 33,000 votes in 2008.
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Dr Ambedkar Nagar - Mhow
This seat, one of the eight seats in Indore district, has been held by BJP’s National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya since 2008.
BJP has fielded Usha Thakur against Congress’ Antar Singh Darbar. Antar Singh Darbar had earlier held this seat and was beaten by Vijayvargiya in 2008. In 2013, Vijayvargiya defeated Darbar by around 12,600 votes.
Shivpuri
The focus in Shivpuri is on Yashodhara Raje Scindia, state minister in CM Chouhan’s government. Yashodhara is also the aunt of Congress’ Madhya Pradesh campaign chief Jyotiraditya Scindia and sister of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia.
Yashodhara is the incumbent state minister for Commerce, Industries and Employment and Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation.
She had previously won the seat in 1998 and 2003. She has held the constituency since 2013 when she defeated Congress’ Birendra Raghuwanshi by over 11,000 votes.
This time, Yashodhara is being challenged by Congress’ Siddharth Lada.
Observers suggest that many top ministers in CM Chouhan’s cabinet are facing anti-incumbency, including Yashodhara.
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Bhitarwar
Even though Congress has been in the opposition for 15 years, Bhitarwar is one of the seats where the party has done well over the last few assembly elections.
The constituency assumes significance as BJP has reinstated its faith in Anoop Mishra, who had lost in 2013 to Congress candidate Lakhan Singh Yadav.
The two will be clashing again this time. Mishra is former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s nephew.
The constituency is located in the Chambal-Gwalior region where Scheduled Caste (SC) voters hold significant influence. SCs form the core of Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)’s support. Hence, BSP candidate Beenu Patel could spoil the sitting MLA's chances.
In 2013 too, Yadav had won the seat with a small margin of around 6,500 votes. BSP’s candidate Ram Niwas Singh Gurjar had picked up over 24,500 votes. Congress and BJP had bagged 40,578 and 34,030 seats respectively.
Bhopal Dakshin-Paschim (Bhopal South West)
This constituency has been held by senior cabinet minister Umashankar Gupta since 2008. Gupta is the Minister of Revenue and Science & Technology in the state government. He had earlier served as the state’s home minister.
Gupta is facing a challenge from Congress’ PC Sharma and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s chief ministerial candidate Alok Agarwal.
In 2013, Gupta had defeated Congress’ Sanjeev Saxena by over 18,000 votes.
A win in this seat would held Congress make inroads into the urban seats in Madhya Pradesh’s capital, which have been bastions for the BJP.
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