Sagar: As Congress names Nidhi Jain as mayor candidate, BJP aspirants rise to occasion

Sagar (Madhya Pradesh): BJP leaders aspiring for mayor post have started to position themselves to grab tickets from the party.

They have started lobbying from state BJP VP’s office, all three cabinet ministers of the district to senior party leaders in Bhopal and Sagar. There are half-a-dozen candidates, who have been pitching their names since the state election commission (SEC) completed reservation for mayor post.

Voting for mayor post will be held in the first phase on July 6. The seat is for unreserved women.

As Congress has finalised the name of its candidate for mayoral election, it has created buzz among BJP leaders aspiring for the ticket.

Congress has shortlisted Nidhi Jain, wife of former Deori MLA Sunil Jain to field her for mayor post. Nidhi is a close relative of BJP MLA Shailendra Jain.

The selection of Nidhi Jain named by the Congress party has made the upcoming mayoral election more interesting. It is believed that it would be tough for MLA Shailendra Jain to decide whether he would campaign for his party’s candidate or would sit silent.

Though the BJP state president, during his visit to Sagar, has made it clear that tickets would be given to those who are involved in helping for development of the city and active in social duties, the aspirants from the BJP have been putting their best efforts to grab a ticket.

There are three ministers from Sagar in the state cabinet. The trio had been pitching the names of their candidates, sources said.

According to sources, Pratibha Rameshwar Choubey, Megha Dubey, Sandhya Bhargava, district president of Mahila Morcha are considered to be frontrunners for tickets.

While Rameshwar has a strong hold among party workers and is an active party leader, Megha Dubey is considered as one of the close associates of MLA Shailendra Jain.

Similarly, Sandhya Bhargava is close to the RSS. It is said that the local RSS unit has been pitching the name of Sandhya.

Political analysts of the district believe that BJP would finalise among three names for mayor post.

Besides, senior BJP leader Anil Tiwari has also been running pillar to post and demanding tickets for his wife Pratibha Tiwari. Anil Tiwari is active in the party for years and is close to senior BJP leaders at the state level.

Along with this, the daughter-in-law of former BJP district president Pandit Ramavatar and former Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha district president and presently cultural cell's state coordinator Arpit Pandey's wife, Shikha Pandey, is also in the race. The Pandey family has a good hold in the organisation along with the three ministers of the district, the district president said.