As the state of Madhya Pradesh with 230 seats will go on for polling on November 28, both the major contenders-Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and The Indian National Congress (INC)-are not ready to take any chances. Bhartiya Janta Party who is ruling the state since 2003 will look to consolidate its vote share while its counterpart, Indian National Congress is eyeing on the state, considering the competition as ‘now or never’ game.
From setting up a hard to beat combination to fielding a right candidate in a right place in the caste-ridden state of Madhya Pradesh, Political Masters in the Bipolar state are not ready to take any chance in these state assembly elections 2018 as it is considered as the last litmus test before the General Elections of 2018.
Between the challenges for the party from their opponents what has become a bigger challenge, a hard nut to crack for the parties is their ‘loyalties turn rebels’ who choose to turncoats and throw a hat in the election ring against the Official Candidate when being denied a ticket by their own party.
Starting from the ruling party who has 143 seats in the assembly of 230, the list of rebels in the BJP is long.
Padma Shukla: BJP Senior Leader and Cabinet Minister, Padma Shukla, who has been with the party for 38 years quit the party in September, this year. The leader later joined the Congress.
Ramakrishna Kusumariya, a five-time MP, in a move to shift his loyalties, is contesting as an independent from Damoh Constituency against the BJP’s official candidate Jayant Malaiya.
Others Former BJP MLA who have thrown their hat in the ring after being denied a ticket by their party includes- Narendra Singh Kushwaha in Bhind, Rajkumar Mev in Maheshwar and Brahmanand Ratnakar in Berasiya.
Dhiraj Pateria: BJP’s former Youth wing President Dhiraj Pateria quits the party last week when being denied a ticket, fielded himself as an independent candidate from Jabalpur(North) against the Health Minister Sharad Jain. Pateria has already made the contest triangular with Congress getting a seemingly clear advantage.
Pratibha Singh Family: In a rare of the rarest case, a challenged has been come from within the party. In bargi seat of Jabalpur district, the BJP Sitting MLA Pratibha Singh’s Daughter-in-law chooses to contest against her from the Samajwadi party.
Pushpraj Singh: In another such of events, a former Congress legislator returned to the party ahead of Assembly elections. Pushpraj Singh, a former Maharaj of erstwhile princely state of Rewa, is the father of BJP legislator Divyaraj Singh and a three-time MLA in the previous Digvijaya Singh government. He had earlier left the Congress and joined the Samajwadi Party. He was promised a ticket by Congress in 2013 but was later denied. Meanwhile, BJP roped his son Divyaraj Singh who later register a victory on BJP ticket in 2013.
Sameeksha Gupta: Former Gwalior Mayor and BJP Leader, Sameeksha Gupta announced on Tuesday that she has left that party has fielded her nominations as an Independent Candidate from Gwalior (South). Gupta was associated with the party for years and was a mayor in Gwalior from 2009-2015.
Pramila Singh: Another leader who was unhappy with the ticket distribution left BJP. BJP MLA from Jiasingh Nagar, Pramila Singh, who was denied a ticket joined Congress.
Sartaj Singh: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Sartaj Singh switched over to the Congress after his name did not figure in the ruling party’s third list for the November 28 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls. Congress was quick to add Singh, a two time MLA name in their list. Sartaj Singh will now contest upcoming polls from Hoshagabad seat on Congress Ticket.
Sanjay Sharma who was the sitting BJP MLA from Tendukhenda in Seoni district quit the party when his name went missing from the party list and has now been given a ticket from there by the Congress.
Sanjay Singh Masani: Apart from all this, CM Shirvaj’s Brother-in-law Sanjay Singh Masani joined congress before the assembly polls and he is party’s candidate from waraseoni seat.
When taking an exit from the Indian National Congress put on cards, the list has many prominent faces in the state where the party is battling to register a victory after 15 years.
Premchand Guddu: A loyal supporter of Digvijay Singh, Premchand Guddu who has won Lok Sabha from Ujjain seat on Congress ticket in 2009 choose to change his outfit and joins the saffron brigade before the state assembly polls. He has also been MLA twice from Alot Seat. Following in the footsteps of his father, Guddu’s son Ajit Bourasi too joined the saffron party, prompting the BJP to hold back its nominee from Ujjain’s Ghattiya seat.
It would be interesting to see how the fate of leaders who have turncoats their political outfits would unfold.
The state will go for polling on November 28 and counting will take place on December 11