Last bet of 'false' hope: Kamal Nath on BJP's 2nd list of candidates for MP polls

With the BJP releasing its second list of 39 candidates for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, state Congress chief Kamal Nath has claimed the ruling party has accepted defeat in MP and played its "last bet of false hope".

In the second list issued on Monday night, the BJP has fielded seven Lok Sabha members, including Union ministers Faggan Singh Kulaste, Prahlad Singh Patel and Narendra Singh Tomar. The BJP also fielded party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.

The BJP has so far declared candidates for 78 out of the total 230 seats in MP, including its first list of 39 names released in August.

The state elections are due this year-end. The Election Commission has not yet announced the poll schedule.

In a post on X late Monday night, Nath claimed the BJP has accepted defeat in MP and played its "last bet of false hope".

“The candidates' list of the BJP, which claims to have crores of party workers, is surely a stamp on the party's internal defeat and refutes the claims of development during the eighteen-and-a-half years of BJP government and more than 15 years of Shivraj's (Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan) rule,” Nath said.

The Congress leader also said the hollow claims of Madhya Pradesh's development have been exposed and proved to be a "white lie".

Along with the three Union ministers, the BJP has also fielded four Lok Sabha members Rakesh Singh, Riti Pathak, Ganesh Singh and Udaypratap Singh for the state assembly polls.

In the 2018 polls, the Congress won 114 seats while the BJP bagged 109 seats.

The Congress then formed government under Kamal Nath, but it collapsed in March 2020 after a rebellion by MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia, paving the way for Shivraj Singh Chouhan to return as CM.

Following bypolls due to legislators switching sides after the rebellion, the BJP now has 126 MLAs in the 230-member House, while the Congress has 96 legislators.