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Journalism of Courage
The BJP on Saturday released its fifth list of 92 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, dropping 29 MLAs including three state ministers. The release of the list was followed by angry protests from BJP workers in Jabalpur.
Supporters of party leader Sharad Jain cornered Union minister Bhupender Yadav, the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh election in-charge, protesting against the party’s decision to field Abilash Pandey instead of Jain from the Jabalpur North seat. The BJP workers raised slogans against state party president V D Sharma and also assaulted a security guard.
Yadav tried to pacify the crowd and later spoke to reporters even as party workers continued sloganeering. “We have come here, and we will talk to them. They are all party workers. We will speak to everyone,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said party workers had not misbehaved with Yadav. “Sloganeering is part of the political process. The ground-level workers will come as a family and bring the BJP back to power.”
With the release of the list, the suspense over the seat of state Sports Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia was over, with Devendra Kumar Jain being fielded from the seat that she was vacating. This put an end to speculation that Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia may contest from his aunt’s seat.
However, candidates from the seats of Guna (Scindia’s former Lok Sabha seat) and Vidisha are yet to be declared. As of the fifth list, the BJP has announced candidates for 228 seats for elections to the 230-member Assembly.
Apart from Yashodhara Raje, the two other ministers dropped from the list include Gaurishanker Bisen, who was replaced by his daughter Mausam Bisen at the Balaghat constituency, and Scindia loyalist OPS Bhadoria, who was replaced in the Mehgaon seat by Raksha Shukla.
Several sitting MLAs were also dropped by the BJP in the latest list.
Indore-3 MLA Akash Vijayvargiya, son of party national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, was dropped and replaced by Rakesh Golu Shukla.
The latest list includes 12 women candidates, including former state ministers Maya Singh and Archana Chitnis from Gwalior East and Burhanpur seats, respectively. Incumbent minister Usha Thakur will contest from her Mhow seat.
Among others who featured on the fifth list are former ministers Jayant Malaiya and Surendra Patwa, and Jyotiraditya loyalist Mahendra Singh Sisodia.
