Reacting to the Bharatiya Janata Party fielding Union ministers in the Madhya Pradesh election, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday said that the saffron party's move shows that it's going to lose. He said that bringing the "warriors" from the Centre to the state shows that the BJP is scared of losing. On Monday, BJP released its second list of 39 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh elections announcing the names of five MPs. Among them were three Union ministers — Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Singh Patel, and Faggan Singh Kulaste.
CM Bhupesh Baghel said, "If Union ministers and MPs are being fielded in Vidhan Sabha elections, it means that the BJP is going to lose in Madhya Pradesh. So, they are fielding their warriors. But you can understand what the situation is."
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has been fielded from Morena district's Dimani Assembly constituency. Faggan Singh Kulaste has been given a ticket from Mandla district's Niwas seat while Pralhad Patel has been nominated to contest from Narsingpur constituency.
Besides, two MPs, Ganesh Singh and Riti Pathak have also been chosen by the BJP to contest from Satna and Sidhi seats respectively. BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya has also been given a party ticket from Indore-1 seat.
Assembly polls are due for this year in five states including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram in November-December before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
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Last month, the incumbent BJP released its initial list of 39 candidates where it strategically focused on constituencies where the party had previously faced electoral setbacks, including in 2018 and even 2013.
Meanwhile, Congress's Pawan Khera said that the party would release its list of candidates "comfortably", when asked about the same, "since we are certain (of victory in the upcoming MP Assembly polls). Those who are nervous, let's see what all they do."
The 2018 MP assembly polls saw a neck-to-neck fight between Congress and BJP with the former securing 114 seats, narrowly surpassing the saffron party'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