News Analysis India

Tag: Madhya Pradesh Assembly Polls

  • Congress unveils sops-heavy manifesto for MP polls; pledges caste survey, ‘pitches’ for IPL team 

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: The Congress on Tuesday vowed to conduct a caste survey and announced a bevy of sops, including 27 per cent reservation to the OBCs, a farm loan waiver, Rs 25 lakh medical insurance for all residents and even an IPL team for Madhya Pradesh if voted to power in the state as the party unveiled its manifesto for the November 17 assembly polls.

    Releasing the 106-page manifesto listing 59 promises and 101 “main guarantees” here, state Congress chief Kamal Nath announced to provide LPG cylinders at Rs 500 and to form an Indian Premier League (IPL) team of the state if the opposition party forms a government after the polls.

    कांग्रेस पार्टी ने विधानसभा चुनाव 2023 के लिए आज अपना वचन पत्र जारी किया है। यह वचन पत्र मध्य प्रदेश की जनता के लिए खुशहाली और समृद्धि का संदेश है। हम किसानों को गेहूं का ₹2600 प्रति क्विंटल और धान का ₹2500 प्रति क्विंटल मूल्य देंगे और इसे बढ़ाकर ₹3000 प्रति क्विंटल तक ले… pic.twitter.com/fSPrlCuSBV
    — Kamal Nath (@OfficeOfKNath) October 17, 2023
    In order to bring happiness in the state, the party will start the ‘Khushhali Mission’, Nath said, adding the party’s new slogan is “Congress Aayegi, Khushhali Layegi” (Congress will come and bring happiness).

    The Congress also promised to give an assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to women, farm loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh, 100 units of free electricity and 200 units at half rate to consumers, free power for 5 HP motor for irrigation purpose to cultivators, waive pending electricity dues of farmers and taking back false cases related to electricity and farm agitations.

    “We will provide health insurance cover of Rs 25 lakh, which also has an accidental cover of Rs 10 lakh, for all the people,” Nath said while releasing the manifesto.

    Nath also promised 27 per cent reservation to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and schemes.

    The former state chief minister also announced purchase of wheat at the minimum rate of Rs 2,600 per quintal and paddy at Rs 2,500 per quintal and ensured that the cultivators will get their input costs. He also promised to implement the Old Pension Scheme of 2005 and also announced Rs 2,000 pension for ‘bahu-divyangjans’ (those with multiple disabilities).

    The party will also start the ‘Padho-Padhao Yojna’ under which government school children from classes 1 to 8 will get Rs 500 per month, of classes 9 and 10 will get Rs 1,000 per month and those in classes 11 and 12 will get Rs 1,500 per month.

    The scheme was recently announced by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the state. Nath said the Congress will make school education free in the state. The party will implement the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) (PESA) Act in notified tribal areas of the state, he said.

    Focusing on tribal votes, the Congress promised to raise the labour charges of tendu leaf collectors to Rs 4,000 per standard bag. With an aim to consolidate its position among the SC community voters, the party promised to set up the Sant Shiromani Ravidas Kaushal Unnayan (Skill Enhancement) University in Sagar district of the state.

    Notably, the ruling BJP has promised to build a grand memorial of Sant Ravidas in Sagar, and its foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few months back.

    मध्यप्रदेश कांग्रेस का युवाओं को वचन…“बढ़ाइये हाथ, फिर कमलनाथ” pic.twitter.com/0naV6Z3WaY
    — MP Congress (@INCMP) October 17, 2023
    With an aim to change the Congress’ image from being a pro-minority minority to one which takes care of all, Nath promised to constitute the Narmada Parikrama Parishad and start Narmada Parikrama Yatra.

    Notably, Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh had gone on the Narmada Parikrama Yatra before the 2018 state assembly polls.

    The party then came to power in the state after a gap of 15 years.

    With a focus on youth comprising a large chunk of the electorate, Nath promised to fill two lakh government posts in the state and also to provide an unemployment allowance, ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 per month for a period of two years, as financial assistance to them.

    The Congress also promised to raise the monthly honorarium to senior journalists in the state to Rs 25,000 per month (from the current Rs 20,000), develop ‘New City’ (colony) in metros for them and provide them health insurance free of cost.

    To encourage sports and sportspersons, the Congress promised to form the Madhya Pradesh Indian Premier League (IPL) team and also promised to give direct government jobs to the Olympic, World Cup, Asiad and Commonwealth Games medal winners.

    The manifesto also promised a slew of measures for all sections of the society including social justice, rural development, right for a home by promising to do registration of 600 sqft of land free of cost.

    Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, manifesto committee chairman Rajendra Singh and other senior Congress leaders were present on the occasion.

    मध्यप्रदेश कांग्रेस का प्रदेश के प्रत्येक परिवार को वचन…“बढ़ाइये हाथ, फिर कमलनाथ” pic.twitter.com/Ix3NHj97oj
    — MP Congress (@INCMP) October 17, 2023
    The Congress said the manifesto is in the interest of all sections of society and termed it a “blueprint” for the development of Madhya Pradesh.

    The party’s national spokesperson, Charan Singh Sapra, said the Congress will win more than 150 seats (out of 230) in the elections.

    “Our manifesto is very comprehensive and is designed for the welfare of all sections, including villagers, women, youth, and workers. A blueprint for development of the state has been drawn,” he said in Indore.

    The Congress spokesperson alleged “corruption, misgovernance and deceit” marked the rule of BJP under Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

    “The then-Congress government led by Kamal Nath was toppled based on money in (March) 2020. The people of the state will not forgive the BJP and CM Chouhan for forming a government by stealing the mandate,” Sapra added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

    BHOPAL: The Congress on Tuesday vowed to conduct a caste survey and announced a bevy of sops, including 27 per cent reservation to the OBCs, a farm loan waiver, Rs 25 lakh medical insurance for all residents and even an IPL team for Madhya Pradesh if voted to power in the state as the party unveiled its manifesto for the November 17 assembly polls.

    Releasing the 106-page manifesto listing 59 promises and 101 “main guarantees” here, state Congress chief Kamal Nath announced to provide LPG cylinders at Rs 500 and to form an Indian Premier League (IPL) team of the state if the opposition party forms a government after the polls.

    कांग्रेस पार्टी ने विधानसभा चुनाव 2023 के लिए आज अपना वचन पत्र जारी किया है। यह वचन पत्र मध्य प्रदेश की जनता के लिए खुशहाली और समृद्धि का संदेश है। हम किसानों को गेहूं का ₹2600 प्रति क्विंटल और धान का ₹2500 प्रति क्विंटल मूल्य देंगे और इसे बढ़ाकर ₹3000 प्रति क्विंटल तक ले… pic.twitter.com/fSPrlCuSBVgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
    — Kamal Nath (@OfficeOfKNath) October 17, 2023
    In order to bring happiness in the state, the party will start the ‘Khushhali Mission’, Nath said, adding the party’s new slogan is “Congress Aayegi, Khushhali Layegi” (Congress will come and bring happiness).

    The Congress also promised to give an assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to women, farm loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh, 100 units of free electricity and 200 units at half rate to consumers, free power for 5 HP motor for irrigation purpose to cultivators, waive pending electricity dues of farmers and taking back false cases related to electricity and farm agitations.

    “We will provide health insurance cover of Rs 25 lakh, which also has an accidental cover of Rs 10 lakh, for all the people,” Nath said while releasing the manifesto.

    Nath also promised 27 per cent reservation to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and schemes.

    The former state chief minister also announced purchase of wheat at the minimum rate of Rs 2,600 per quintal and paddy at Rs 2,500 per quintal and ensured that the cultivators will get their input costs. He also promised to implement the Old Pension Scheme of 2005 and also announced Rs 2,000 pension for ‘bahu-divyangjans’ (those with multiple disabilities).

    The party will also start the ‘Padho-Padhao Yojna’ under which government school children from classes 1 to 8 will get Rs 500 per month, of classes 9 and 10 will get Rs 1,000 per month and those in classes 11 and 12 will get Rs 1,500 per month.

    The scheme was recently announced by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the state. Nath said the Congress will make school education free in the state. The party will implement the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) (PESA) Act in notified tribal areas of the state, he said.

    Focusing on tribal votes, the Congress promised to raise the labour charges of tendu leaf collectors to Rs 4,000 per standard bag. With an aim to consolidate its position among the SC community voters, the party promised to set up the Sant Shiromani Ravidas Kaushal Unnayan (Skill Enhancement) University in Sagar district of the state.

    Notably, the ruling BJP has promised to build a grand memorial of Sant Ravidas in Sagar, and its foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few months back.

    मध्यप्रदेश कांग्रेस का युवाओं को वचन…
    “बढ़ाइये हाथ, फिर कमलनाथ” pic.twitter.com/0naV6Z3WaY
    — MP Congress (@INCMP) October 17, 2023
    With an aim to change the Congress’ image from being a pro-minority minority to one which takes care of all, Nath promised to constitute the Narmada Parikrama Parishad and start Narmada Parikrama Yatra.

    Notably, Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh had gone on the Narmada Parikrama Yatra before the 2018 state assembly polls.

    The party then came to power in the state after a gap of 15 years.

    With a focus on youth comprising a large chunk of the electorate, Nath promised to fill two lakh government posts in the state and also to provide an unemployment allowance, ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 per month for a period of two years, as financial assistance to them.

    The Congress also promised to raise the monthly honorarium to senior journalists in the state to Rs 25,000 per month (from the current Rs 20,000), develop ‘New City’ (colony) in metros for them and provide them health insurance free of cost.

    To encourage sports and sportspersons, the Congress promised to form the Madhya Pradesh Indian Premier League (IPL) team and also promised to give direct government jobs to the Olympic, World Cup, Asiad and Commonwealth Games medal winners.

    The manifesto also promised a slew of measures for all sections of the society including social justice, rural development, right for a home by promising to do registration of 600 sqft of land free of cost.

    Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, manifesto committee chairman Rajendra Singh and other senior Congress leaders were present on the occasion.

    मध्यप्रदेश कांग्रेस का प्रदेश के प्रत्येक परिवार को वचन…
    “बढ़ाइये हाथ, फिर कमलनाथ” pic.twitter.com/Ix3NHj97oj
    — MP Congress (@INCMP) October 17, 2023
    The Congress said the manifesto is in the interest of all sections of society and termed it a “blueprint” for the development of Madhya Pradesh.

    The party’s national spokesperson, Charan Singh Sapra, said the Congress will win more than 150 seats (out of 230) in the elections.

    “Our manifesto is very comprehensive and is designed for the welfare of all sections, including villagers, women, youth, and workers. A blueprint for development of the state has been drawn,” he said in Indore.

    The Congress spokesperson alleged “corruption, misgovernance and deceit” marked the rule of BJP under Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

    “The then-Congress government led by Kamal Nath was toppled based on money in (March) 2020. The people of the state will not forgive the BJP and CM Chouhan for forming a government by stealing the mandate,” Sapra added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

  • Poll-ready Shivraj Singh Chouhan may rejig cabinet

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL:  With assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh barely three months away, there is a strong buzz that the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet is likely to expand his cabinet in the next couple of days. There are at least three berths in the current council of ministers vacant. 

    The possibility of cabinet expansion a few months ahead of the polls has been triggered by Chouhan’s meeting with Governor Mangubhai C Patel on Tuesday night. Names of former ministers Rajendra Shukla, Gaurishankar Bisen and Jalam Singh Patel are in the race to become ministers. Shukla is a powerful four-time Brahmin MLA from Rewa district, Patel is brother of Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel.

    Bisen and Jalam Singh Patel are from the OBC community, which forms more than 50% of the state’s voters and is seen as the ruling BJP’s main vote bank in MP. Two other OBC Lodhi leaders, including ex-CM Uma Bharti’s first-time MLA nephew Rahul Singh, and Pritam Singh Lodhi (declared candidate from Pichhore seat of Shivpuri district of Gwalior-Chambal region) who is also a distant relative of Bharti, are, too, said to be contenders.

    The surprising move is being seen among political circles as BJP’s efforts to cement the support of its loyal OBC voters, particularly the Lodhi caste, which for long has been seen as traditional BJP voters, particularly due to their caste leader Uma Bharti. The possibility of 71-year-old former agriculture minister Gaurishankar Bisen being included in the cabinet just ahead of polls is being seen as an attempt to gracefully retire him from politics. Importantly, the seven-time MLA from Maoist-hit Balaghat district has stated that he will not contest next polls, particularly if his daughter Mausam Bisen is fielded by the party from the same unreserved seat.

    Shukla, who has been a key part of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP governments in the past, is stated to be a frontrunner for the possible cabinet expansion. His name is particularly being considered, as part of possible damage control exercise by the party to keep him in good humour in the wake of reports about him and his close aide Semariya (Rewa) MLA KP Tripathi, being upset over return of ex-MLA couple Abhay Mishra and Neelam Mishra into the party after five years.  

    Shukla and Tripathi have made their opposition to the Mishra couple’s return to the party clear to a senior leader of the state BJP, after which the ruling party is busy in ensuring that Shukla and Tripathi are not at all won over by the opposition Congress. The party is also trying to address a long-standing regional imbalance in ministry, particularly over the presence of very few ministers from the Vindhya region, which was swept by the BJP in the 2018 polls.

    Reacting to the possibility of the cabinet expansion, state BJP chief VD Sharma said, “It’s the CM’s prerogative and can happen anytime.” However, sources close to some MLAs whose names are in the running for inclusion in the cabinet, told this newspaper that the late cabinet expansion may actually hurt their poll prospects, especially by raising people’s expectations in respective assembly seats barely a month and half before elections are announced.

    BHOPAL:  With assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh barely three months away, there is a strong buzz that the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet is likely to expand his cabinet in the next couple of days. There are at least three berths in the current council of ministers vacant. 

    The possibility of cabinet expansion a few months ahead of the polls has been triggered by Chouhan’s meeting with Governor Mangubhai C Patel on Tuesday night. Names of former ministers Rajendra Shukla, Gaurishankar Bisen and Jalam Singh Patel are in the race to become ministers. Shukla is a powerful four-time Brahmin MLA from Rewa district, Patel is brother of Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel.

    Bisen and Jalam Singh Patel are from the OBC community, which forms more than 50% of the state’s voters and is seen as the ruling BJP’s main vote bank in MP. Two other OBC Lodhi leaders, including ex-CM Uma Bharti’s first-time MLA nephew Rahul Singh, and Pritam Singh Lodhi (declared candidate from Pichhore seat of Shivpuri district of Gwalior-Chambal region) who is also a distant relative of Bharti, are, too, said to be contenders.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The surprising move is being seen among political circles as BJP’s efforts to cement the support of its loyal OBC voters, particularly the Lodhi caste, which for long has been seen as traditional BJP voters, particularly due to their caste leader Uma Bharti. The possibility of 71-year-old former agriculture minister Gaurishankar Bisen being included in the cabinet just ahead of polls is being seen as an attempt to gracefully retire him from politics. Importantly, the seven-time MLA from Maoist-hit Balaghat district has stated that he will not contest next polls, particularly if his daughter Mausam Bisen is fielded by the party from the same unreserved seat.

    Shukla, who has been a key part of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP governments in the past, is stated to be a frontrunner for the possible cabinet expansion. His name is particularly being considered, as part of possible damage control exercise by the party to keep him in good humour in the wake of reports about him and his close aide Semariya (Rewa) MLA KP Tripathi, being upset over return of ex-MLA couple Abhay Mishra and Neelam Mishra into the party after five years.  

    Shukla and Tripathi have made their opposition to the Mishra couple’s return to the party clear to a senior leader of the state BJP, after which the ruling party is busy in ensuring that Shukla and Tripathi are not at all won over by the opposition Congress. The party is also trying to address a long-standing regional imbalance in ministry, particularly over the presence of very few ministers from the Vindhya region, which was swept by the BJP in the 2018 polls.

    Reacting to the possibility of the cabinet expansion, state BJP chief VD Sharma said, “It’s the CM’s prerogative and can happen anytime.” However, sources close to some MLAs whose names are in the running for inclusion in the cabinet, told this newspaper that the late cabinet expansion may actually hurt their poll prospects, especially by raising people’s expectations in respective assembly seats barely a month and half before elections are announced.

  • JP Nadda sets 200-plus seats, over 51% vote target for BJP in 2023 MP Assembly polls

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Setting an ambitious target of 200-plus assembly seats out of the total 230 seats and over 51% vote to win the year-end assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, the ruling BJP’s national president JP Nadda gave a call to the party’s polling booth heads to connect with people across the state for detailing about party’s achievements and exposing the real political character of the opposition Congress.

    “People are waiting for you across the state, go and meet every person and put before them with facts and arguments the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policy of Reform-Transform and Perform. Go and tell them about how MP has made rapid strides during the present regime at the centre and state, spanning from recent 33 railway projects and 5,872 km of rail line projects at an investment of over Rs 84,000 crore to the opening of 14 medical colleges in the state during the last nine years. Go and tell them about Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government’s ambitious plan of providing 1.24 lakh government jobs,” Nadda said while addressing a gathering of polling booth heads from 35 assembly segments of central MP.

    He also appreciated the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government’s recently launched Laadli Bahna Scheme.

    “Go and tell the people that Congress means corruption, commission, divisive politics, politics of dynasty and nepotism. Tell them about BJP’s Report Card Culture which entails that what we promise we do, what we say will be done,” Nadda said while appealing to the party workers to work for winning each and every booth and village in the state.

    Importantly, the BJP’s target of 200-plus seats for 2023-end assembly polls isn’t new, as five years back also, target of 200 seats was set by the saffron party, but the party ultimately finished with just 109 seats and 41.02% votes against Congress’s 114 seats with slightly lesser 40.89% votes.   

    Without naming Rahul Gandhi, he took a sustained jibe at the former Congress president, saying, the Congress of today is high on egoism and low on wisdom.

    “You (Gandhi) first make casteist slur against most backward castes, when the court asks you to apologize, you don’t apologize. This proves you neither have respect for the country’s law, Constitution nor democracy. It’s time we go and expose the Congress and its leader on it, among masses in MP.”

    Making light of the Congress’s ‘Satyagraha’ over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha, Nadda said “Mahatma Gandhi first started the Satyagraha in 1906 in South Africa and then in 1919 in India for India’s honour and self-rule, but the Congress’s call for Satyagraha is now based to further its high on ego and low on wisdom politics.”

    “Go and tell the people, how the Congress’s leader has made casteist slur on most backward castes and isn’t regretting it till date, even after losing his Lok Sabha membership,” Nadda said.

    Prior to addressing the BJP’s booth-level heads from 35 assembly segments, Nadda laid the foundation of state BJP’s new state-of-the-art headquarter in Bhopal. “When the PM was elected as leader of the BJP parliamentary party in 2014, he had highlighted the need for the BJP having a proper office in every district of the country. BJP now has well-equipped offices in 290 districts, while similar offices in 115 other districts are being built, land has been arranged for such offices in 123 more districts.”

    Two Congress leaders join BJP, while OBC leader sacked by BJP in August 2022 returns to the party fold

    Bhopal: Just four days after the Congress made a dent into one of the oldest Yadav families of BJP in Gwalior-Chambal region, by getting in its ranks son of former three-times BJP MLA Rao Deshraj Singh Yadav in Ashok Nagar district, the saffron party responded with three new joining – two of them being from the Congress.

    Two women leaders of Congress, including Mona Sustani (considered close to ex-CM Digvijaya Singh’s family), former BSP MLA and presently Congress leader Usha Chowdhary joined the BJP in Bhopal on Sunday.

    While Sustani had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Rajgarh seat, losing by over 4.31 lakh votes to BJP candidate, Usha Chowdhary had won in 2013 assembly polls from Raigaon (SC) seat of Satna district, but finished third on the same party’s ticket in 2018, before joining the Congress.

    The third new joining, however, was perhaps the most notable, as Uma Bharti-loyalist OBC leader Pritam Singh Lodhi, who was sacked by the BJP in August 2022 over objectionable remarks for Brahmins, returned to the saffron party fold. Lodhi was recently in news for trying to build a third front in the state with tribal and Dalit outfits.

    BHOPAL: Setting an ambitious target of 200-plus assembly seats out of the total 230 seats and over 51% vote to win the year-end assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, the ruling BJP’s national president JP Nadda gave a call to the party’s polling booth heads to connect with people across the state for detailing about party’s achievements and exposing the real political character of the opposition Congress.

    “People are waiting for you across the state, go and meet every person and put before them with facts and arguments the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policy of Reform-Transform and Perform. Go and tell them about how MP has made rapid strides during the present regime at the centre and state, spanning from recent 33 railway projects and 5,872 km of rail line projects at an investment of over Rs 84,000 crore to the opening of 14 medical colleges in the state during the last nine years. Go and tell them about Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government’s ambitious plan of providing 1.24 lakh government jobs,” Nadda said while addressing a gathering of polling booth heads from 35 assembly segments of central MP.

    He also appreciated the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government’s recently launched Laadli Bahna Scheme.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “Go and tell the people that Congress means corruption, commission, divisive politics, politics of dynasty and nepotism. Tell them about BJP’s Report Card Culture which entails that what we promise we do, what we say will be done,” Nadda said while appealing to the party workers to work for winning each and every booth and village in the state.

    Importantly, the BJP’s target of 200-plus seats for 2023-end assembly polls isn’t new, as five years back also, target of 200 seats was set by the saffron party, but the party ultimately finished with just 109 seats and 41.02% votes against Congress’s 114 seats with slightly lesser 40.89% votes.   

    Without naming Rahul Gandhi, he took a sustained jibe at the former Congress president, saying, the Congress of today is high on egoism and low on wisdom.

    “You (Gandhi) first make casteist slur against most backward castes, when the court asks you to apologize, you don’t apologize. This proves you neither have respect for the country’s law, Constitution nor democracy. It’s time we go and expose the Congress and its leader on it, among masses in MP.”

    Making light of the Congress’s ‘Satyagraha’ over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha, Nadda said “Mahatma Gandhi first started the Satyagraha in 1906 in South Africa and then in 1919 in India for India’s honour and self-rule, but the Congress’s call for Satyagraha is now based to further its high on ego and low on wisdom politics.”

    “Go and tell the people, how the Congress’s leader has made casteist slur on most backward castes and isn’t regretting it till date, even after losing his Lok Sabha membership,” Nadda said.

    Prior to addressing the BJP’s booth-level heads from 35 assembly segments, Nadda laid the foundation of state BJP’s new state-of-the-art headquarter in Bhopal. “When the PM was elected as leader of the BJP parliamentary party in 2014, he had highlighted the need for the BJP having a proper office in every district of the country. BJP now has well-equipped offices in 290 districts, while similar offices in 115 other districts are being built, land has been arranged for such offices in 123 more districts.”

    Two Congress leaders join BJP, while OBC leader sacked by BJP in August 2022 returns to the party fold

    Bhopal: Just four days after the Congress made a dent into one of the oldest Yadav families of BJP in Gwalior-Chambal region, by getting in its ranks son of former three-times BJP MLA Rao Deshraj Singh Yadav in Ashok Nagar district, the saffron party responded with three new joining – two of them being from the Congress.

    Two women leaders of Congress, including Mona Sustani (considered close to ex-CM Digvijaya Singh’s family), former BSP MLA and presently Congress leader Usha Chowdhary joined the BJP in Bhopal on Sunday.

    While Sustani had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Rajgarh seat, losing by over 4.31 lakh votes to BJP candidate, Usha Chowdhary had won in 2013 assembly polls from Raigaon (SC) seat of Satna district, but finished third on the same party’s ticket in 2018, before joining the Congress.

    The third new joining, however, was perhaps the most notable, as Uma Bharti-loyalist OBC leader Pritam Singh Lodhi, who was sacked by the BJP in August 2022 over objectionable remarks for Brahmins, returned to the saffron party fold. Lodhi was recently in news for trying to build a third front in the state with tribal and Dalit outfits.

  • Madhya Pradesh Congress decides to fight 2023 Assembly polls under Kamal Nath’s leadership

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Congress leaders on Monday unanimously decided to contest the 2023 Assembly polls in the state under the leadership of former chief minister Kamal Nath.

    All senior Congress leaders unanimously told Nath he has to lead the party in the 2023 Assembly elections and all of them are committed with full vigor to fight the polls and to form the government in his leadership, a state Congress statement said.

    The decision, incidentally, was taken in a meeting chaired by Nath at his residence.

    In a tweet in Hindi, former Union minister and ex-state Congress president Arun Yadav said the 2023 polls will be fought against BJP misrule under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Kamal Nath.

    Later talking to reporters, state Congress media department chairman Jitu Patwari said the party will contest the 2023 Assembly polls on issues like the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government’s misrule, corruption, farm crisis.

    The economy was in distress, social harmony was affected and youth as well as farmers were facing problems, he alleged, adding that a plan has been chalked out for the Congress to hold agitations under Nath on people’s issues.

    Former MP finance minister Tarun Bhanot said the financial condition of the state, which has a debt of over Rs 4 lakh crore, had worsened, while price rise was distressing people.

    The Congress will raise awareness among people on inflation, farmers’ problems and unemployment in a major way, Bhanot said.

    The meeting was attended by senior party leaders like Digvijaya Singh, Suresh Pachouri, Kantilal Bhuria, Ajay Singh, Arun Yadav, Jitu Patwari and Jaivardhan Singh, among others.