Madhya Pradesh Polls: 'Nervous' BJP fields 3 union ministers, 2 MPs; CM Shivraj kept in dark

The BJP has fielded three cabinet ministers and two MPs in what is being considered as a last-ditch bid to regain Madhya Pradesh, one of the most significant states with 40 Lok Sabha seats and a stronghold for Hindutva since 2003.

The second list released by the BJP on Monday, 25 September, includes union ministers: Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Singh Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste. Apart from union ministers, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, four-time MP from Satna Ganesh Singh, second-time sitting MP Riti Pathak and four-time Jabalpur MP Rakesh Singh have been fielded by the saffron party.

The second list with high-profile union ministers and MPs was announced hours after PM Modi addressed Karyakarta Mahakumbh in Bhopal.

Sources claimed that chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was not informed about the inclusion of union ministers in the second list. He was kept in the dark by the BJP high command.

While Tomar will contest the assembly polls from Gwalior after two decades, Kailash Vijayvargiya will fight from Indore. Ganesh Singh will fight from Satna, Rakesh Singh will contest from Jabalpur-West, Priti Pathak will fight from Sidhi.

Sidhi assembly seat is presently held by BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla. He is being denied the ticket over his alleged supporter Pravesh Shukla’s video of urinating on a tribal man.

Analysts believe by fielding heavy weights BJP high command is trying to mitigate the ani-incumbency against Shivraj Sigh Chouhan government. A message has been sent out that Shivraj Sigh Chouhan will not be the CM, if BJP wins.

Notably, Jyotiraditya Scindia who crossed over from Congress to BJP in the hope of becoming chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, has not been asked to contest the assembly polls. MP watchers believe Scindia’s position in the saffron camp is shaky.

“Deserted by his supporters, Scindia is getting isolated…He is neither fully trusted by the BJP high command nor liked by the people. By fielding Tomar from Gwalior, BJP made it clear who it trusts more,” a political observer from MP told National Herald over the phone.