In Madhya Pradesh, which has 230 assembly seats, the all-important second list was decided in the party’s central election committee meeting attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah
Bhopal: The fact that the BJP took so long to announce the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election candidates, it clearly meant one thing — multiple revisions and numerous screenings before Amit Shah gave green signal to JP Nadda to sign on the final list of candidates on Friday morning.
This delay hints at a huge disruption. Though BJP released names of 177 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election, as many as 27 sitting MLAs were junked this time.
The disruption doesn’t end here. Two sitting ministers were not given tickets by the BJP in this crucial election where Shivraj Singh Chauhan is facing huge anti-incumbency.
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However, Chauhan will fight from Budhni, the seat he has been traditionally fighting from. Meanwhile, the list of ministers, who are shown the door so that fresh faces from the party cadres can be given a chance, includes minister Maya Singh.
In Madhya Pradesh, which has 230 assembly seats, the all-important second list was decided in the party’s central election committee meeting attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah. Senior leaders like Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh were also present.
Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s government has been widely cornered on issues like the farmers’ distress by the Congress, whose campaigning had started in full force much earlier.
The SC-ST ordinance brought in by the Modi government at the Centre has also created quite a lot of heartburn among upper caste Hindus in Madhya Pradesh. Moreover, all these got coupled with decades of anti-incumbency that made the selection process even more tough for the BJP higher-ups.
Interestingly, though the BJP finalised the names on Thursdays only, they refused to release the list till Friday morning.
After the meeting was over, a member told MyNation, requesting anonymity, “What happened inside was nothing less than a bloodbath”.
Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to go on polls on November 28.
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