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Journalism of Courage
The bypolls to two Madhya Pradesh Assembly constituencies on April 9 have become a keen battle to watch as the faulty EVM charge by some Opposition parties was raised in one of the seats. Senior Congress leader and former Leader of Opposition Satyadev Katare’s death necessitated the bypoll in Ater constituency in Bhind district, while veteran BJP leader Gyan Singh’s election to the Lok Sabha necessitated the election in Bandhavgarh constituency in Umaria district.
By fielding Katare’s son Hemant, the Congress is hoping to gain sympathy votes in Ater. He is taking on BJP vice-president Arvind Bhadoria, a former MLA. The outcome of the Ater seat will be keenly awaited because it is here that allegations about faulty EVMs were levelled by AAP and other Opposition parties, prompting the Election Commission of India to send observers.
Bandhavgarh lost its MLA for different reason. The seat fell vacant in November when BJP minister Gyan Singh quit it after he won the Lok Sabha bypoll in Shahdol. Shahol had fallen vacant in 2016 because of the death of MP Dalpat Singh Paraste.
To begin with, Singh was reluctant to contest the Lok Sabha by-election in Shahdol. When the party insisted, he said the ticket for the bypoll in Bandhavgarh should go to his son, to which the BJP has agreed. The senior Singh continues to be a minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
Answering why Singh continued to be a minister, although he is not an MLA, the chief minister bluntly told a rally: “Because I want him to.’’ Singh had won the parliamentary bypoll by a margin of 60,383 but was tested by Himadri Singh, a young Congress candidate who had accused him of singing a sexist song to demean her. The Congress has fielded Savitri Singh in Bandhavgarh.
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