MP Election 2023: From MP Vs MLA To Fresher Fighting Cabinet Min, Check Out 9 High-Profile Battles

Madhya Pradesh elections are barely a month away and both the major parties-- BJP and Congress have announced candidates on nearly 60% of the seats. These include some intense high-profile face offs. Let's take a look!

1. Shivraj Vs Vikram: Congress, has fielded actor Vikram Mastal— famous for playing the role of Lord Hanuman, against Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Mastal will be contesting the election from Budhni constituency, a seat that Chouhan has won five-times.

2. Kamal Nath Vs Bunty Sahu: Former CM & state Congress president Kamal Nath will fight the assembly polls from Chhindwara--known as his bastion. Meanwhile, BJP has once again fielded Vivek Bunty Sahu against the former CM who defeated him in 2019 by-elections by 25,000 votes.

3. Vijayvargiya Vs Sanjay Shukla: Congress' sitting MLA Sanjay Shukla has retained ticket from Indore-1. BJP, on the other hand, has fielded one of its heavyweights, the party's national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya--famously known as the seat puller of the saffron party.

4. Tarun Bhanot Vs Rakesh Singh: In Jabalpur West, sitting MLA & Former Finance Minister in Nath government --Tarun Bhanot will fight four-time BJP Member of Parliament from Jabalpur - Rakesh Singh. With both high-profile leaders, all eyes will be on this seat!

5. KP Singh Vs ? Amid rumours of Jyotiraditya Scindia fighting the upcoming polls, most likely from Shivpuri after aunt Yashodhara vacated the seat, Congress changed its candidate and fielded Scindia's rival KP Singh. If BJP does decide to field Scinida, it will be an interesting battle of old rivals.

6. Narottam Mishra Vs Avdesh Nayak: Congress has fielded rebel BJP leader Awadhesh Nayak against Home Minister Narottam Mishra in Datia-- a Brahamin dominated seat. Notably, in the recent years Mishra has made headlines for his firebrand Hindutva politics. According to an analysis, Congress might have put faith in Nayak as he belongs to Brahmin community which holds political significance in the constituency.

7. Jitu Patwari Vs Madhu Verma: MLA and state's former sports & higher edu minister Jitu Patwari has retained his ticket from Rau. Patwari has emerged as an active youth leader in past years. He will fight against BJP's Madhu Verma, former chairman of Indore Development Authority. With Verma being 68-years-old, Congress is constantly raising questions on his age and ability to lead.

8. Silawat Vs Setiya: In Sanwer assembly constituency, Congress has given ticket to fresher Reena Borasi Setiya to fight BJP heavyweight, cabinet minister Tulsiram Silawat. Notably, in 2020 by-polls, Silawat had managed to defeat Reena’s father Premchand ‘Guddu’. It will be interesting to see if Reena will be able to avenge his father's loss this time!

9. Jaivardhan Singh Vs Hirendra Singh: Raghogarh MLA and former CM Digvijaya Singh's son Jaivardhan Singh has also retained his ticket. On the other hand, in its second list, BJP has declared Hirendra Singh (Bunty Bana) as its candidate. Raghogarh is considered a bastion of Digvijay Singh. CM Shivraj had also contested this seat against Digvijaya in 2003. However, he lost the election.