BJP gives late speakers seat to son

Former MP Hemant Khandelwal will contest from Betul,and controversial former MLA Jalam Singh Patel from Narsinghpur.

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The day after speaker Ishwardas Rohani died,the BJP named his son Ashok as the candidate from his seat,Jabalpur (Cantonment). The 67-year-olds sudden death Tuesday forced the BJP to postpone the announcement of its second list. The list released Wednesday has 64 names,including that of Ashok,the partys district general secretary in Jabalpur.

The ruling party has not named candidates for 19 key seats,including two in Bhopal represented by Dhruvnarayan Singh and Jitendra Daga,both questioned by the CBI in separate cases. The party has so far denied tickets to nearly three dozen MLAs.

Chaudhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi,who defected from the Congress on the floor of the assembly,has been rewarded with a ticket for his brother Mukesh Chaudhary from Mehgaon,Bhind. The sitting BJP legislator,Rakesh Shukla,has warned of rebellion.

The party has replaced former minister Premnarayan Thakur with his son Uttam from Amarwada constituency.

Ratlam businessman and party treasurer Chetan Kashyap is the candidate from Ratlam (City) and will take on independent MLA Paras Saklecha,who defeated minister Himmat Kothari in 2008.

Former minister Motilal Kashyap,who faced a charge of pushing a minor into prostitution in 2008 before being acquitted,will contest from Badwara (SC),Katni. Former minister Harendra Singh Babbu,who led the list of candidates facing criminal charges in 2008,will again contest from Jabalpur (West).

Former MP Hemant Khandelwal will contest from Betul,and controversial former MLA Jalam Singh Patel from Narsinghpur. Minister Ranjana Baghel,whose candidature was in jeopardy due to her husbands controversial image,has won a ticket again. Chairman of the state tourism development corporation Mohan Yadav will contest from Ujjain (South).