MP polls 8212; Jogi, Uma and Patwa change constituencies

Although pitted against relatively low profile candidates, it may not be an easy task for the three.

Contesting the second Lok Sabha polls of his political career, Jogi not only faces a tough challenge from BJP8217;s Dalpat Singh who had recently quit Janata Dal, but also has to cope with simmering unrest from a section of his partymen who wanted state Congress working president and former Union minister of state, Dalbir Singh, to contest from there.

A Rajya Sabha member for two terms, Jogi had won from Raigarh in Chhatisgarh region by only 4,000 votes in 1998. The low margin is said to be the main reason for his moving out of the seat.

Congress Seva Dal chief and former Union minister, Sureshpachouri, is queering the pitch for Bharti who has to cope with her partymen8217;s unhappiness over denial of ticket to former chief minister Kailash Joshi.

Having won four Lok Sabha polls since 1989 from Khajuraho, Bharti had refused to contest again from there saying she was suffering from cervical spondilitis, a condition which prevents her from travelling by road in rural areas.

But in her case also, the decision to shift to Bhopal is said to be guided by the steady decline in her victory margin since 1989.

BJP veteran Patwa, who had stunned former Union minister Kamalnath by a margin of 38,000 votes in the traditional Congress bastion of Chhindwara in 1997 Lok Sabha by-polls, is also playing it safe this time from Hoshangabad after losing to Kamalnath by more than 1.50 lakh votes in Chhindwara in 1998.

Despite facing a first-timer almost half his age in Congress candidate Rajkumar Patel, Hoshangabad does not seem to be a cakewalk for Patwa considering the personal interest of state Chief Minister Digvijay Singh in the seat.