Cong hopeful in fight of the royals

The Congress will go to the second phase in a much better shape than April 23 and will fancy increasing its tally from the disastrous showing five years ago. In 2004,the party won four seats to the BJP’s 25 and improved its tally by one in the Khargone bypoll. Three of those winning candidates are in the fray.

The young Scindia will take on the BJP’s former minister Narottam Mishra in Guna,which has traditionally voted for a member of the erstwhile royal family—from Rajmata Vijayaraje to her son Madhavrao to his son Jyotiraditya,who has stayed put in Shivpuri,with his wife and mother doing their bit.

Gwalior in comparison has not been an easy hunting ground for the family. Yashodhara Raje,who won in a bypoll in 2007,is contesting on the BJP ticket. The margin of little more than 36,000 votes coupled with the fact that she does not enjoy the best of relations with BJP leaders in the region means she has to watch over her shoulders.

An interesting battle is in the offing in Sagar,where former hockey star Aslam Sher Khan is taking on Bhupendra Singh,who has lost two Assembly elections. Khan who has won twice from different seats is finding it hard to challenge the ‘outsider’ tag.Arun Yadav,another young candidate,will take on BJP veteran Nand Kumar Chouhan in Khandwa.

The BJP’s Sumitra Mahajan,who has won the Indore seat consecutively since 1989,is pitted against the Congress’s Satyanarayan Patel. Ashok Argal,one of the MPs who flashed wads of cash in the Lok Sabha during the trust vote,is contesting from Bhind. Morena,where state BJP chief Narendra Singh Tomar is a candidate,is probably the only seat where the BSP will put up a credible performance given that there are more than 3 lakh SC voters. Moreover,the seat borders UP.