MP polls 2018: Congress names 16 candidates in second list

India वोट Kar | November 5, 2018

Assembly Elections 2018-Congress Releases 2nd List of Candidates for MP Polls

The Congress on Sunday announced its second list of 16 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections 2018.

Key names

As expected, the party’s chief whip and five-time MLA Ramniwas Rawat will contest from Vijaypur. Mahendra Singh Chauhan, a loyalist of Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh, has been fielded from Narela in Bhopal, held by Vishwas Sarang, a minister in Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government who is seen as having a strong base there.

Rajnagar MLA Vikram Singh Natiraja, who had been tipped to lose his ticket and was even rumoured to be heading to the BJP, has been renominated. So has Kamleshwar Dwivedi, who narrowly lost in Sidhi last time. Rajendra Bharti, who had filed a paid-news complaint against Public Relations minister Narottam Mishra, will take him on in Datia district.

The party also rewarded Brajendra Singh Yadav (Munagoli) and Mahendra Singh Yadav (Kolaras), both from Jyotiraditya Scindia’s camp, for their by-poll wins over the BJP, which had lifted the party’s 2018 hopes.

JAYS tickets and protests

Sources said the Congress had planned to field two more functionaries of the tribal-based JAYS from Petlawad and Alirajpur, but dropped the idea after protests over tickets for JAYS national convener Dr Heeralal Alawa (Manawar, Dhar) and functionary Laxman Singh Dindor (Ratlam). Wary of its own workers, the party instead chose local leaders Vel Singh Meda and Mukesh Patel. The Alawa and Dindor nominations have caused unrest among workers in Manawar and rural Ratlam.

Dissent in the BJP

In the BJP, former Bhopal Madhya MLA Dhruv Narayan Singh, son of former chief minister Govind Narayan Singh, protested with hundreds of supporters near his Arera Colony home after being denied a ticket. He has been sidelined since his name surfaced in the murder case of RTI activist Shehla Masood. The party had named sitting MLA Surendranath Singh, a close aide of Chouhan, for the seat in its first list.