Madhya Pradesh bypolls: 1 Lok Sabha, 3 Assembly seats up for grabs in bipolar contest
From holding 2-3 public rallies to spending the night in the house of tribal and Dalit, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is leaving no stone unturned to woo voters.
Voting on three assembly seats and a Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh by-polls will take place on October 30 and results will be declared on November 2.
From holding 2-3 public rallies to spending the night in the house of tribal and Dalit, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is leaving no stone unturned to woo voters.
Amid speculations of change in the leadership like other BJP ruled states, CM Chouhan has made several announcements to address the local issues. By suspending officers from the stage for the delay in providing beneficial schemes, he is projecting an image of a hard taskmaster.
BJP is considering this election important as it is the first election after the second wave of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) when a large number of people died allegedly due to shortages of oxygen and hospital beds.
Meanwhile, MP Congress is fighting this election with issues including deaths during Covid 19 second wave, poor roads, power cuts, atrocities with tribal and scheduled caste people and unemployment.
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MP Congress Committee state president Kamal Nath said, “BJP-led state government failed to provide basic infrastructure and now the CM is staging the drama of being tough to put the blame of their failed policies on voters. This election will clear that voters are wise enough and are not going to rely on drama.”
BJP state president VD Sharma said, “Congress is losing its existence and leaders are leaving the party. Even, voters are not coming to attend the public rally of Congress leaders. Congress candidates are losing this election due to internal dispute.”
Khandwa
Khandwa Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the death of BJP senior leader and six times Member of Parliament Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan. Chauhan contested seven elections and lost only once in 2009 against Congress leader Arun Yadav.
In this election, Chauhan’s son Harshwardhan was the probable candidate of BJP but the party gave a ticket to Gyaneshwar Patil, an OBC leader. From Congress, Arun Yadav has shown a willingness to contest election from Khandwa seat but two days before the declaration of the name of the candidate, he posted on social media that he doesn’t want to contest this election. Congress gave a ticket to Rajnarayan Singh, a close aide of Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh.
During the election campaign, Congress MLA Sachin Birla switched his side and joined BJP as he claimed that he was feeling suffocated there. Birla’s left the party in a lurch.
Jobat
The Jobat seat in the Alirajpur district fell vacant after the death of Congress MLA Kalawati Bhuria. A reserved seat for tribal candidates is being considered significant in order to know the mood of tribal voters. BJP has given a chance to turncoat Sulochana Rawat, a former two time Congress MLA, after she joined BJP last month against the Congress candidate Mahesh Patel.
Raigaon
The Raigaon seat in Satna district became vacant following the death of five times BJP MLA Jugal Kishor Bagri. This is a scheduled caste reserved seat. Here too, BJP denied a ticket to Jugal Kishore Bagri’s son and gave a ticket to a woman candidate Pratima Bagri. Congress gave a ticket to Congress leader Kalpana Verma. In Raigaon, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has a good base. In 2013, BSP candidate Usha Chaudhary defeated Bagri in a close fight. BSP is not contesting the by-poll and its local leaders are extending support to the Congress candidate.
Prithvipur
Prithvipur in Niwari district fell vacant following the death of Congress legislator and former minister Brijendra Singh Rathore. Congress gave ticket to Rathore’s son Nitendra Rathore while BJP gave ticket to a defector Shishupal Yadav, a former leader of the Samajwadi Party.
In the 2018 election, Yadav received 30% votes while Rathore received 35% votes. After losing the election, Yadav had joined BJP.
| Seat | Voters | No. of candidates | Last won by |
| Khandwa (Lok Sabha) | 19,59,436 | 16 | Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan (BJP) |
| Jobat (Assembly) | 2,60,598 | 6 | Kalawati Bhuriya (Congress) |
| Raigaon (Assembly) | 2,06,910 | 16 | Jugal Kishore Bagri (BJP) |
| Prithvipur (Assembly) | 1,98,124 | 10 | Brijendra Pratap Singh (Congress) |
