The Janta Dal (United) party on Tuesday released a list of five candidates that it is fielding for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections, where its ally Congress is trying to wrest power from the ruling BJP. As per the statement of the party's national general secretary, Afaq Ahmed Khan, this list is the 'first' for Madhya Pradesh where polls will be cast for all 230 seats in a single phase on November 17. Names of the five candidates that have been fielded are -- Chandra Pal Yadav (Pichhor), Ram Kunwar Raikwar (Rajnagar), Shiv Narayan Soni (Vijay Raghavgarh), Tol Singh Bhuria (Thandla) and Rameshwar Singla (Petalawad), reported news agency PTI.
Bihar Chief Minister broke ties with the Bhartiya Janta Party last year and joined the Mahagathbandhan comprising arch-rival Lalu Prasad's RJD, Congress and the Left. All these combined vowed to defeat the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by forging a nationwide opposition unity known as the I.N.D.I.A. bloc. Kumar's efforts played a significant role in the formation of the opposition bloc.
Kumar's party is the third constituent of the alliance, after Congress and Samajwadi Party, to field candidates in Madhya Pradesh where the saffron party has been in power for around two decades except for a 15-month-long period when the state Congress chief Kamal Nath ran his government.
In this Assembly Polls, Congress and BJP have been launching attacks at each other continuously and using various tactics to woo the voters. Madhya Pradesh Congress chief accused the ruling BJP government of turning the state into a "Chopat Pradesh". Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on the other hand accused certain members of the Opposition of employing tantric rituals to try and win the upcoming elections.
The 230-member Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly will go to polls on November 17 in a single phase and the result will be announced on December 3.