BJP fields union ministers in Madhya Pradesh assembly poll to counter anti-incumbency

In an apparent bid to counter anti-incumbency, the BJP has fielded three union ministers and several sitting MPs in Madhya Pradesh where assembly poll is scheduled to take place in November/December this year.

BJP’s second list of 39 candidates for the MP assembly polls, which was released on Monday evening, contained the names of union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, minister of state for Jal Shakti Prahlad Singh Patel and minister of state for rural development Phagan Singh Kulaste.

Tomar has been fielded from Dimani assembly seat while Patel will contest from Narsinghpur seat. Kulaste will contest from Niwas seat.

Besides these three ministers, the BJP has also fielded several sitting MPs from the state. They included Rakesh Singh, Ganesh Singh, Riti Pathak and Uday Pratap Singh. Imarti Devi, a loyalist of union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who had joined the BJP two years back, has been fielded from Dabra assembly seat.

Other candidates in the list include Raghuraj Kansana (Morena), Amrish Sharma (Lahar), Mohan Singh Rathore (Bhitarwar), Pradeep Agrawal (Sewda) and Ramesh Khatik (Karera). It has named Hirendra Singh (Raghogarh) and Brijbihari Pateria (Deori).

In its first list, which was announced mid-August, the party had given tickets to 39 candidates across the state’s 230 seats. In 2018, the BJP had lost in all the constituencies for which the candidates were announced in the first list.

In 2018, the Congress had come to power in Madhya Pradesh with Kamal Nath at the helm, after winning 114 seats while the BJP won 109 seats. In March 2020, the government fell after Jyotiraditya Scindia led 22 MLAs including six ministers into the BJP.