In the run-up to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced its second list of candidates, which includes five Members of Parliament vying for seats in various constituencies. Ganesh Singh will contest from the Satna constituency and Riti Pathak, who hails from Sidhi, will be on the ballot. Rakesh Singh, who presently represents the Jabalpur West parliamentary constituency, has secured a spot in the second list as well.


Significantly, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has been fielded by the BJP from the Dimani constituency. Besides him, Pralhad Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste have been nominated to represent the saffron party in a move to bolster its prospects in the electoral battle.






“I am thankful for this decision by the party (referring to him being named in BJP's second list of candidates for Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections). We will gladly accept what the party decides,” Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel told PTI.






On being fielded from Indore-1, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya told news agency ANI, "This is the party's order. I was told that I will be assigned work and that I would not say 'No' and I would have to do it. When the tickets were declared, I too was surprised. I am the party's soldier. I will do whatever they say... BJP has headed towards 2/3rd majority. Time will tell how many more seats than that will we get."






With this second list, the BJP has now declared its candidates for 78 out of the 230 assembly seats.


It's worth noting that the BJP's initial list of 39 candidates, revealed last month, strategically focused on constituencies where the party had previously faced electoral setbacks, including in 2018 and even 2013. This suggests a concerted effort by the ruling party to reclaim lost ground.


The BJP had released its first batch of nominations ahead of the formal announcement of the poll schedule. Furthermore, the candidate list features five women.


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The 2018 assembly elections saw the Congress securing 114 seats, narrowly surpassing the BJP's tally of 109. However, the Congress government's tenure was cut short as some of its MLAs crossed over to the BJP. Consequently, the BJP returned to power in March 2020, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan taking office as Chief Minister for a renewed term. As the electoral arena heats up, all eyes are now on the impending contest in Madhya Pradesh.


Assembly elections are due in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram in November-December before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.


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