BJP releases first list of candidates for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh

While the list for Chhattisgarh, where there are 90 members in the Assembly, constitutes of 21 candidates, that of Madhya Pradesh, which has 230 seats, has 39 names

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 17, 2023 04:24 PM IST

3 min read

Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh go to the polls later this year, where the BJP is expecting a tough fight. (Express File Photo)

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Days after the BJP leadership was seen discussing its strategy for picking nominees in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh where it expects a tough contest in the Assembly elections later this year, the saffron party released the first list of candidates on Thursday.

While the list for Chhattisgarh, where there are 90 members in the Assembly, constitutes of 21 candidates, that of Madhya Pradesh, which has 230 seats, has 39 names.

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In Chhattisgarh, the BJP has fielded Lok Sabha MP Vijay Baghel from Patan, Bhulan Singh Maravi from Premnagar, Laxmi Rajwade from Bhatgaon, Shakuntala Singh Porthe from Pratappur (ST), Sarla Kosaria from Saraipali (SC), Alka Chandrakar from Khallari, Gita Ghasi Sahu from Khujji and Maniram Kashyap from Bastar (ST), among others.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has fielded Sarla Vijendra Rawat from Sabalgarh, Priyanka Meena from Chachaoura, Lalita Yadav from Chhatarpur, Anchal Sonkar from Jabalpur Purba (SC), Nirmala Bhuriya from Petlawad, Bhanu Bhuriya from Jhabua (ST), Alok Sharma from Bhopal Uttar and Dhruv Narayan Singh from Bhopal Madhya, among others.

The Chhattisgarh list comprises five women, 10 candidates from Scheduled Tribes and one from the Scheduled Castes category. For Madhya Pradesh, the party has chosen five women, eight Scheduled Caste candidates and 13 from Scheduled Tribes.

BJP leaders had admitted that the outcome of the elections in Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram, apart from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, would prove crucial for the party’s Lok Sabha election preparations.

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In the 2018 state polls, the BJP lost power in both Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, but it succeeded in toppling the Congress government in the latter after just over a year. It won only 15 of the 90 seats in the Chhattisgarh Assembly while the Congress bagged 68. The BJP’s tally was 109 in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly while the Congress’s was 114.

The BJP managed to turn things around in both states in the Lok Sabha elections in May 2019. It won nine of the 11 constituencies in Chhattisgarh and 28 of the 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh.

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