News Analysis India

Tag: Madhya Pradesh Elections

  • Caste census an X-ray of country, we will force Centre to conduct it: Rahul in poll-bound MP

    By PTI

    BEOHARI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday termed caste census an “X-ray” of the country that will throw light on the condition of OBCs, Dalits and tribals, and said his party would force the Centre to conduct this exercise “come what may.”

    He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not speaking on the issue of caste census.

    “We will force the central government to conduct a caste census, come what may, to know the truth about the condition of OBCs, Dalits and tribals in the country. Our governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have initiated a process for it,” Gandhi said.

    He was addressing a public meeting at Beohari in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh, a day after the dates for the state assembly polls were announced.

    “Caste census is an X-ray of the country. Tribals, Dalits and OBCs of the country are injured. Let us check…It will clear the picture,” he said.

    “We challenged PM Narendra Modi to release the data of the caste census done by Congress. But instead of talking about it, he talks about Pakistan, Afghanistan and South. Speak on caste census,” the former Congress president added.

    Referring to a book written by Bharatiya Janata Party’s veteran leader L K Advani, Gandhi said the book mentioned that Madhya Pradesh, not Gujarat, was the laboratory of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevan Sangh (RSS).

    “But Madhya Pradesh is a laboratory of several scams like medical treatment to deceased persons, Vyapam, mid-day meal, atrocities against tribals and women, among others,” he targeted the BJP government in the state.

    The single-phase assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh will be held on November 17.

    BEOHARI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday termed caste census an “X-ray” of the country that will throw light on the condition of OBCs, Dalits and tribals, and said his party would force the Centre to conduct this exercise “come what may.”

    He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not speaking on the issue of caste census.

    “We will force the central government to conduct a caste census, come what may, to know the truth about the condition of OBCs, Dalits and tribals in the country. Our governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have initiated a process for it,” Gandhi said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    He was addressing a public meeting at Beohari in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh, a day after the dates for the state assembly polls were announced.

    “Caste census is an X-ray of the country. Tribals, Dalits and OBCs of the country are injured. Let us check…It will clear the picture,” he said.

    “We challenged PM Narendra Modi to release the data of the caste census done by Congress. But instead of talking about it, he talks about Pakistan, Afghanistan and South. Speak on caste census,” the former Congress president added.

    Referring to a book written by Bharatiya Janata Party’s veteran leader L K Advani, Gandhi said the book mentioned that Madhya Pradesh, not Gujarat, was the laboratory of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevan Sangh (RSS).

    “But Madhya Pradesh is a laboratory of several scams like medical treatment to deceased persons, Vyapam, mid-day meal, atrocities against tribals and women, among others,” he targeted the BJP government in the state.

    The single-phase assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh will be held on November 17.

  • Congress leaders spar over CM face in Madhya Pradesh polls, Digvijaya backs Kamal Nath

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Two senior Congress leaders sparred over the choice of Madhya Pradesh unit president Kamal Nath as the party’s chief ministerial face for the state Assembly polls likely to be held at the end of the year.

    The war of words between Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Govind Singh and Nath loyalist MLA Sajjan Singh Verma took place after a meeting on MP poll preparations was held in Delhi on May 29, which was attended by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.

    After attending the meeting, Singh had said, “The Congress is a democratic party. It is not the Congress tradition to announce the CM face in advance. The public will elect the MLAs, who will further choose the CM.”

    Hitting back, Verma said, “Govind Singh ji sometimes forgets whether MLAs have elected him as the leader of the opposition? No, he was not elected by MLAs. He was senior so we also agreed on his appointment as leader of opposition.”

    Verma said the people of MP and party leaders want Nath as the state’s CM, adding that Singh should behave the way in which he expects others to do with him.

    “All 22 present (in Rahul Gandhi’s meeting) had accepted Kamal Nath as their leader. This is on record. All leaders accepted that the 2023 polls will be fought under Kamal Nath’s leadership,” Verma asserted.

    Meanwhile, on Sunday, Singh issued a video statement claiming his comment had been wrongly interpreted by the media.

    “It is true all the senior leaders have decided to contest Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls under the leadership of Kamal Nath. I have said several times he is our party’s leader,” he said.

    Singh, however, maintained the chief minister is selected after the elections and in the legislature party.

    Meanwhile, Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh also said party leaders want the polls to be fought under Nath’s leadership.

    BHOPAL: Two senior Congress leaders sparred over the choice of Madhya Pradesh unit president Kamal Nath as the party’s chief ministerial face for the state Assembly polls likely to be held at the end of the year.

    The war of words between Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Govind Singh and Nath loyalist MLA Sajjan Singh Verma took place after a meeting on MP poll preparations was held in Delhi on May 29, which was attended by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.

    After attending the meeting, Singh had said, “The Congress is a democratic party. It is not the Congress tradition to announce the CM face in advance. The public will elect the MLAs, who will further choose the CM.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Hitting back, Verma said, “Govind Singh ji sometimes forgets whether MLAs have elected him as the leader of the opposition? No, he was not elected by MLAs. He was senior so we also agreed on his appointment as leader of opposition.”

    Verma said the people of MP and party leaders want Nath as the state’s CM, adding that Singh should behave the way in which he expects others to do with him.

    “All 22 present (in Rahul Gandhi’s meeting) had accepted Kamal Nath as their leader. This is on record. All leaders accepted that the 2023 polls will be fought under Kamal Nath’s leadership,” Verma asserted.

    Meanwhile, on Sunday, Singh issued a video statement claiming his comment had been wrongly interpreted by the media.

    “It is true all the senior leaders have decided to contest Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls under the leadership of Kamal Nath. I have said several times he is our party’s leader,” he said.

    Singh, however, maintained the chief minister is selected after the elections and in the legislature party.

    Meanwhile, Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh also said party leaders want the polls to be fought under Nath’s leadership.

  • Attempt to breach BJP’s Vindhya bastion as party MLA floats outfit in MP

    Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Bordered by eastern Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, it was the Vindhya region, which prevented Congress from returning to power after 15 years in the 2018 assembly polls. It also gave the BJP respectable numbers to topple the Kamal Nath government with Jyotiraditya Scindia’s help just 15 months later in Madhya Pradesh.

    With just six months left for the next assembly polls, the same region seems to be emerging as one of the most intriguing battlegrounds of the poll-bound state, particularly in the wake of ruling BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi announcing a new political party for the cause of a separate Vindhya Pradesh.

    Tripathi, the fourth-time MLA from Maihar (Satna), who is often seen as a quintessential turncoat politician (he has been an MLA with SP and Congress one time each and with the BJP twice) announced on Sunday, the new party.

    “The new party will be registered by May 15 and will be the party of every native of the Vindhya region. You give me 30, I’ll give you Vindhya,” Tripathi said, dropping clear hints of the new outfit contesting all 30 seats. 

    Reacting to his party’s MLA’s decision to launch a new party and contest all 30 seats of Vindhya, the state BJP president VD Sharma said, “appropriate action will be taken by the party organization in the matter.” On the other hand, Ajay Singh ‘Rahul,’ ex-MP minister and senior Congress leader from Vindhya (often seen as Tripathi’s bete noire) said only time will tell what fate holds in store for him (Tripathi) and the new party.

    Vindhya region houses 30 assembly seats, out of which BJP had won 24. The Congress managed just 6 seats in the 2018 assembly polls. Though the main contest on the 30 seats was between the BJP and the Congress, the BSP too was a force to reckon with on some seats.

    BHOPAL: Bordered by eastern Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, it was the Vindhya region, which prevented Congress from returning to power after 15 years in the 2018 assembly polls. It also gave the BJP respectable numbers to topple the Kamal Nath government with Jyotiraditya Scindia’s help just 15 months later in Madhya Pradesh.

    With just six months left for the next assembly polls, the same region seems to be emerging as one of the most intriguing battlegrounds of the poll-bound state, particularly in the wake of ruling BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi announcing a new political party for the cause of a separate Vindhya Pradesh.

    Tripathi, the fourth-time MLA from Maihar (Satna), who is often seen as a quintessential turncoat politician (he has been an MLA with SP and Congress one time each and with the BJP twice) announced on Sunday, the new party.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “The new party will be registered by May 15 and will be the party of every native of the Vindhya region. You give me 30, I’ll give you Vindhya,” Tripathi said, dropping clear hints of the new outfit contesting 
    all 30 seats. 

    Reacting to his party’s MLA’s decision to launch a new party and contest all 30 seats of Vindhya, the state BJP president VD Sharma said, “appropriate action will be taken by the party organization in the matter.” On the other hand, Ajay Singh ‘Rahul,’ ex-MP minister and senior Congress leader from Vindhya (often seen as Tripathi’s bete noire) said only time will tell what fate holds in store for him (Tripathi) and the new party.

    Vindhya region houses 30 assembly seats, out of which BJP had won 24. The Congress managed just 6 seats in the 2018 assembly polls. Though the main contest on the 30 seats was between the BJP and the Congress, the BSP too was a force to reckon with on some seats.

  • Congress mulls roping in starlets, social media icons for MP assembly polls

    Express News Service

    BHOPAL:  The weakest assembly seats for the Congress may well see the most surprising faces as candidates of the grand old party in the year-end polls in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

    According to sources, the party is exploring the possibility of fielding newcomers, including young faces from the film and television world (who may be new to politics, but their families have been sworn Congress ideology backers from generations) on the weakest seats. 

    The new candidates may also include social media icons/influencers and celebrity orators, who have a big fan following. These saffron strongholds on which BJP has been invincible for decades are particularly spread in Malwa-Nimar, Bundelkhand, Vindhya and Central MP regions.

    There are around 66 weak seats, which the Congress has failed to win since the last two to six or eight polls. Such seats, include Govindpura seat of Bhopal which has been BJP’s citadel since 1980, Rehli in Sagar district of Bundelkhand, where the party has been losing to BJP since 1985, Indore-II, Khandwa (BJP winning since 1990), Indore-II and Sagar seats (saffron forts since 1993), Naryawali, Indore-V, Neemuch and Jawad (BJP winning since 2003) and Mandsaur and Narela-Bhopal (won by sitting BJP MLAs since 2008).

    State Congress president Kamal Nath has made it clear multiple times that candidates in the weakest seats would be decided first (six months before polls). Former CM and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh has been tasked with preparing the party for these seats. He is regularly touring these constituencies and holding open dialogues with party workers there. State Congress sources also claimed that the party may not only finalize candidates first on the 60-odd weak seats but also on 30-40 seats, which are its strongest bets.

    BHOPAL:  The weakest assembly seats for the Congress may well see the most surprising faces as candidates of the grand old party in the year-end polls in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

    According to sources, the party is exploring the possibility of fielding newcomers, including young faces from the film and television world (who may be new to politics, but their families have been sworn Congress ideology backers from generations) on the weakest seats. 

    The new candidates may also include social media icons/influencers and celebrity orators, who have a big fan following. These saffron strongholds on which BJP has been invincible for decades are particularly spread in Malwa-Nimar, Bundelkhand, Vindhya and Central MP regions.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    There are around 66 weak seats, which the Congress has failed to win since the last two to six or eight polls. Such seats, include Govindpura seat of Bhopal which has been BJP’s citadel since 1980, Rehli in Sagar district of Bundelkhand, where the party has been losing to BJP since 1985, Indore-II, Khandwa (BJP winning since 1990), Indore-II and Sagar seats (saffron forts since 1993), Naryawali, Indore-V, Neemuch and Jawad (BJP winning since 2003) and Mandsaur and Narela-Bhopal (won by sitting BJP MLAs since 2008).

    State Congress president Kamal Nath has made it clear multiple times that candidates in the weakest seats would be decided first (six months before polls). Former CM and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh has been tasked with preparing the party for these seats. He is regularly touring these constituencies and holding open dialogues with party workers there. State Congress sources also claimed that the party may not only finalize candidates first on the 60-odd weak seats but also on 30-40 seats, which are its strongest bets.