Former chief minister Shirvaj Singh Chouhan from Indore seat! How does that sound? As speculations are rife that BJP will not give ticket to Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan for upcoming general elections, new names are doing rounds for Indore seat.
And while names of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, Indore Mayor Malini Gaud and Indore-2 MLA Ramesh Mendola are already under discussion, sources claimed that party is also considering the name of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Mhow MLA Usha Thakur for Indore seat.
Eight-time MP from Indore, Mahajan — who is affectionately called Tai — wanted to contest elections for the ninth time also but the party is unwilling to field her as she crossed age of 75. On Wednesday, state BJP president Rakesh Singh stated that the party would take decision on Indore seat after consulting Mahajan, sending a message that she won’t fielded this time.
But Mahajan reportedly conveyed to the party that she does not find any one in the city as her successor after which Chouhan’s name came under consideration. Chouhan, who term Indore “his city of dreams”, could become “third choice” of Mahajan for Indore seat after herself and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Take note: Mahajan recently stated that either she or Modi will contest election from Indore seat. Later, she backed off from the statement saying she was joking during the core committee meeting of Indore division. As Mahajan shares good rapport with Chouhan she may recommend him as her successor and the latter, whose love for Indore is known, may agree to contest polls from the commercial capital of the state.
As of now, the BJP is thinking of pitting either Chouhan or Uma Bharati against Digvijaya Singh from Bhopal seat. If he is not contesting from Bhopal and Tai wished to give her seat to him, Indoreans may see former chief minister contesting from his city of love.
However, the name of Usha Thakur, who is close to RSS, is also making the rounds. Having a reputation of winning from polls from where-ever fielded, Usha Thakur could also be choice of Mahajan as she does not belong to her rival Vijayvargiya’s camp.
First non-Indorean
If fielded from Indore, Chouhan would be first non-Indorean to contest election from Indore which had elected person as its representative in Lok Sabha so far. Nandlal Joshi, Kanhaiyalal Khadiwala, Homi F Daji, Prakash Chandra Sethi, Ram Singh Bhai, Kalyan Jain and Sumitra Mahajan all were Indoreans. Nandlal was first MP from Indore.
