Cong gives room, BSP opens door

Putting the ball in the BSP’s court for a ‘‘tacit understanding’’, the Congress today announced 220 candidates out ...

Putting the ball in the BSP’s court for a ‘‘tacit understanding’’, the Congress today announced 220 candidates out of the 230 total seats in Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, leaving the field open in Gwalior-Chambal region.

Giving out the list in which 20 sitting MLAs have been dropped, 34 women candidates are in and the tilt is towards Dalits and OBCs, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digivijay Singh stressed it is time ‘‘the BSP decides who its enemy number one is.’’

Among the 10 undecided seats is Gwalior, an emerging BSP stronghold. The BSP has traditionally given the Congress a run for its money in Gwalior-Chambal region with the party getting only nine out of the 34 seats in the region in the last elections, most of the rest going to the BSP.

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The Congress is also watching the 170 seats that the BSP has said it will contest in the state leaving 60 seats open. Inviting the BSP for support, Digvijay said: ‘‘I appeal to all parties, including the BSP, who do not support the BJP ideology to support us in seats where they have not put up their candidates.’’ On what the Congress can give in return — since it is contesting all the 230 seats — Digvijay said: ‘‘That can be decided in due course of time.’’

‘‘The BSP wants socio-economic upliftment of the Dalits. They should choose which party should form the government that can achieve that,’’ he pointed out.

The list, expected to throw the BJP into a tizzy to ‘‘match the candidates’’ who they are fielding, took Digvijay some time to finalise. Out of the 220 names, over 150 are said to be the Chief Minister’s choice. Party incharge for the state Ambika Soni pointed out: ‘‘For some seats there were four to five winning candidates and that is what made the job of the screening committee tough.”

Maya to help anyone to trump BJP

VRINDA GOPINATH
NEW DELHI,NOVEMBER 1:
BSP national president Mayawati has come out with a novel way of defeating the BJP, her pet hate today, in the four Assembly elections. ‘‘The BSP’s electoral strategy for MP, Rajasthan, Delhi and Chhattisgarh is to go it alone,’’ she declared at a press conference today, adding: ‘‘But we will not contest in those seats where we feel we are weak. ‘‘Because it is advantageous to the BJP, and my priority is to ensure they do not come to power.’’ She then listed the number of constituencies the BSP will contest — MP, 170 seats out of 230; Rajasthan, 125 out of 200; Chhattisgarh, 55 out of 90 and in Delhi, 40 out of 70 . ‘‘Our partymen will support those who will defeat the BJP. In one sweep, she not only drew the battlelines for the four states, by not naming the Congress, the BJP’s main rival, she also put to rest rumours of a tacit BSP-Congress tie-up. ‘‘It is a two-pronged strategy,’’ she said, ‘‘by not contesting in weak seats, we will help defeat the BJP and, two, support those candidates who can also defeat the party.’’ The BSP is also confident it holds the key to power in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan because of a sizeable Dalit and tribal vote in these states. ‘‘We will also consider supporting a non-BJP government which comes to power,’’ said Mayawati. However, the BSP president refused to comment on how she would be helping the Congress as her party will be contesting almost 70 per cent of the seats. ‘‘I’ve said what I wanted to say. I will not be lured to admit to anything,’’ she said.

‘Grave insult to wounded people’: Cong lashes out at PM Modi amid his first Manipur visit

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As Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Manipur for the first time since ethnic violence hit the state in May 2023, the Congress on Saturday called it a “farce, tokenism, and a grave insult to a wounded people”.

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