The poll scene is hotting up in Madhya Pradesh with both the main contenders, BJP and Congress, announcing candidates for almost all the seats — INC 230 and BJP 228. The ticket distribution has caused heartburn in both parties, with open rebellion in many seats. Many Congress and BJP aspirants who were denied tickets are joining the BSP. The Congress has had to change candidates in four seats. It’s all happening in “ajab hai, gajab hai MP”.
The BJP has denied tickets to 32 sitting MLAs (25%) while Congress to 11 (11%). Both the parties have given due consideration to demographics — caste, religion, age, gender — in their respective lists.
Both the parties, have been talking big about women reservation, have again done injustice to them. Congress and BJP have given 30 and 28 seats, respectively, to women, much lower than the one-third representation, which comes to 77. Winnability is the standard excuse, again.
In line with the trend observed in many states, the BJP has not given tickets to any member from the Muslim community. The Congress too doesn’t score brownie points here as it has given tickets to just two Muslims. According to the “jitni abaadi, utna haq” formula, Muslims who account for 7% of the state's population should have been given at least 16 tickets by the Congress.
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Upper Caste Dominance In Both BJP, Congress Lists
In both the parties' lists, the upper caste have gained prominence. Both the Congress and the BJP have given 35% of the tickets to Brahmins and Rajputs, in line with their traditional dominance, which is 1.5 to 2 times their population strength. The parties have fielded SC-ST candidates in line with the seats reserved for both the categories. There will be head-to-head fights between traditional rivals Thakurs and Brahmins on 11 seats.
Congress, which has made caste census a big issue in these polls and promised its implementation upon coming to power, has given tickets to 62 members from the OBC community, while BJP has field 68 OBC candidates. This is much less in comparison to the estimated OBC population, which is upwards of 40% in the state.
Just 12 caste groups have pocketed roughly two-thirds of tickets on both Congress and BJP lists, pointing to imbalances in representation. MP has roughly 500 caste groups in all. Both the parties have given tickets to candidates from 51 caste groups, which is just 10% of the total number of caste groups in MP.
In terms of one-to-one contests, both the Congress and the BJP have fielded OBC candidates in 36 and General category candidates in 52 seats. On 81 reserved seats, SC-ST candidates have been fielded by both parties. In one-fourth of the seats, the contest is between an OBC and a General category candidate.
Congress List Scores Better On 'Youth' Representation
One of the lacunae the Congress party is facing after the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia is the lack of young faces at senior level. The top two, Kamal Nath and Digvijay, are both 76 years old. When half of the population is between 18 and 45 years of age, it is difficult for these leaders to find a connection with the voter base.
To set this right, the Congress has given tickets to 99 candidates whose age is less than 50, who can be considered 'youth' in India’s political landscape. These candidates could give a youthful zing to the campaign, which the Congress was perhaps lagging currently. The BJP has given tickets to 65 such individuals.
At 55, the average age of BJP candidates is also not very high. The youngest candidate in this election, Shivram Kannauj (26), is however from the BJP. He will be contesting from Manawar seat in Dhar.
On the Congress list, there are 61 candidates who are contesting for the first time, while 96 have never won an assembly election earlier. The party has blended a mix of youth and experience with 92 such candidates who have been an MLA for three or more terms.
Now, with candidate lists out, all eyes are on the nomination (last date October 30) and withdrawal (last date November 2) days, after which all the names and number of contestants on each seat will be known. After two weeks for campaigning, the polling will take place on November 17. A cracker of a contest is on the anvil.
The author is a political commentator and SEBI-registered investment advisor.
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