Narmadapuram (Madhya Pradesh): The Congress has not won a single seat out of the four in Narmadapuram district in the past 15 years.
Because of the party’s repeated failure, it has given tickets for the upcoming election to those who either worked for the BJP or for the political outfits that believe in the BJP’s ideology.
It is not something new in the district. This situation has been prevailing in Hoshangabad for ten years. In 2018 assembly election, the Congress gave a ticket to a former minister of the BJP, Sartaj Singh.
Similarly, the party has fielded former BJP legislator Girija Shankar Sharma, the brother of former Speaker of MP House, Sitasaran Sharma.
The Congress candidate in Pipariya is Virendra Belbanshi who was associated with the ruling party for 15 years.
Similarly party candidate in Sohagpur is Pushpraj Patel who was a supporter of former chief minister Uma Bharti. Pushpraj was the member of a political outfit, Janshakti Party, founded by Uma.
The Congress has fielded Ajay Patel from Seoni Malwa, and his family was associated with the BJP.
Current BJP legislator Thakur Vijay Pal Singh is facing Pushpraj Singh Patel in Sohagpur.
Vijaypal Singh is counting the development projects launched by him in the past 15 years.
Though a greenhorn in electoral politics, Pushpraj is well known among farmers, and he may get the advantage of his association with Uma.
In Seoni Malwa, current BJP legislator Prem Shankar Verma is facing a young contestant of the Congress, Ajay Balram and an independent candidate Om Raghuwanshi.
Ajay is a councillor of the Nagar Parishad, and Raghuwanshi is fighting the election as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket by the Congress. Caste factor may play an important role in this constituency.
Former legislator of the BJP ThakurdasNagwanshi is facing Congress’s Virendra Belbanshi in Pipariya reserved constituency. Belbanshi defected from the BJP to the Congress.
Before joining the Congress, Belbanshi was a dedicated BJP worker from 1995 to 2005 and a member of the Janpad Panchayat. He became a member of the district Panchayat in 2010, and switched over to the Congress in 2014.
Triangular contest
Hoshangabad constituency is heading for a triangular contest. Social and caste equations may create problems for the BJP and the Congress.
In this seat, the contention is between two brothers – BJP’s Sitasaran Sharma and Congress’s Girija Shankar Sharma who recently switched over from the ruling party to the opposition camp.
After being denied a ticket by the BJP, Bhagwati Choure is contesting from this constituency as an independent candidate.
The Sharmas belong to the Brahmin community and Bhagwati comes from the Kurmi society.
Out of 2, 20, 831 voters, 27,000 are Brahmins; whereas 42,000 belong to the Kurmi community. Thus, the independent candidate may cause trouble to the Congress and the BJP.
Because two brothers are in the fray, the rural voters are in confusion. The candidates are pulling out all the stops to win the election, but only time will tell whether their efforts yield any results.
(With inputs from Surinder Singh Arora)
