With the announcement of the first list of Congress candidates in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has trained its guns on former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, pointing out that many of his family members had got the ticket. The BJP always proclaims that while nepotism is ingrained in the Congress, it itself runs on the philosophy of one family, one ticket. Its national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who will fight from from Indore-1, has been talking about how his son Akash has requested BJP president J P Nadda not to consider his candidature for the polls. BJP president V D Sharma said, "Digvijaya Singh's whole family is in the list. The Congress guarantee in Madhya Pradesh is one of dynastic politics." Congress spokesperson K K Mishra brushed off the allegations and said "the BJP has also given tickets to family members of sitting MLAs”. Here is a look at Digvijaya Singh's family members who feature in the list: Jaivardhan Singh, 37 Digvijaya’s son Jaivardhan is focusing on Scindia strongholds in the Gwalior-Chambal region. He has recently been credited with bringing some Scindia loyalists back to the Congress. A Doon School and Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi, alumni, who later did Masters from Columbia University, New York, Jaivardhan entered politics in 2013 when he won the Raghogarh Assembly seat by over 59,000 votes, the highest among all Congress candidates that election. He retained the seat in 2018 by a margin of over 64,000 votes, and was given the Urban Development and Housing portfolio by then Chief Minister Kamal Nath. Lakshman Singh, 68 Digvijaya's younger brother is a three-time MLA. Known for his outspoken and controversial statements on various issues, he has often criticised his own party's decisions and strategies on social media. The incumbent MLA from Chachoura, Lakshman faces an interesting three-way fight against former BJP leader-turned-AAP candidate Mamta Meena, and the BJP's Priyanka Meena, who is the wife of an IAS officer. The Singhs were born into the erstwhile Raghogarh royal family and their father Balbhadra Singh was an MLA who supported the Hindu Mahasabha. Lakshman, who was born in Indore, counts St Stephen's College, Delhi, as his alma mater. He began his political career by winning the family seat Raghogarh in 1990. He won the seat again in 1993 when his brother Digvijaya became the CM. In 1993, Lakshman won a Lok Sabha bypoll from Rajgarh to become an MP. In 2004, Lakshman switched over and won the Rajgarh seat on a BJP ticket. He remained in the BJP till 2010, when he was expelled for speaking against then party president Nitin Gadkari. In 2018, he returned to state politics and won the elections from Chachoura by beating Mamta Meena by 9,700 votes. Priyavrat Singh, 45 Digvijaya's nephew is currently the MLA from Khilchipur constituency. Hailing from the erstwhile royal family of Khilchipur, he is also known as Raja Rao Bahadur Priyavrat Singh. Priyavrat has spent his political career in the Congress, starting out as a zilla panchayat member from Rajgarh district in 1998 at the age of 21. His first Assembly election was from Khilchipur in 2003, which he won with a huge margin. He became a popular face due to his work and development initiatives, and was re-elected in 2008. He lost the Assembly polls in 2013 to the BJP's Kunwar Hajarilal Dangi. In 2018, he won back Khilchipur by over 29,000 votes, and was made Energy Minister by Kamal Nath. Priyavrat had a public exchange with Dangi in August 2023 when he accused the latter of inclining towards any party that is in power, and said he should eat gulab jamuns. A week ago, at an event featuring Dangi, a BJP leader compared Priyavrat to a "terrorist", following which the local police registered an FIR. Ajay Singh 'Rahul', 68 Ajay Singh 'Rahul, the son of the late Congress heavyweight and ex-Union minister Arjun Singh, is married to Digvijaya's niece. Though not a blood relative, Ajay is known as a confidant of Digvijaya. Ajay started his political career in 1985, when he won the by-election from the Churhat Assembly seat, which was vacated by his father. He retained the seat in 1991, but lost it to the BJP's Govind Prasad in 1993. He regained it in 1998 and served as a minister in Digvijaya Singh's Cabinet. He won the seat again in 2003, 2008 and 2013, but lost to the BJP's Sharadendu Tiwari in 2018. Ajay has a strong base in the Vindhya region, especially Sidhi district, where his family has held political control for decades.
