Indore-2 assembly constituency MLA Ramesh Mendola, who is stated to be among front runner for BJP ticket for Indore Lok Sabha seat, here on Thursday stated that he is not in the race. “I would like to clear my stand on Indore Lok Sabha seat. I am not in race for ticket,” he said. The MLA stated that his party has made him election incharge for Indore seat.
“I already have one responsibility of making BJP win the seat so the party won’t give another responsibility to me,” said Mendola, a protégé of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya who is also in among front-runners for the ticket. As outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker and local MP, Sumitra Mahajan crossed the age of 75 (she will turn 76 on Friday) it was suspected that she won’t be given ticket to contest elections.
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Among such speculations, the BJP national president Amit Shah last week stated that the party has decided not to field candidate above 75 years of age. A day after the announcement, Mahajan also known as Tai announced that she won’t be contesting LS election anymore and requested from the party to declare candidate for Indore seat.
Since many names are doing rounds for Indore seat among who are Vijayvargiya, his loyalist Mendola, Indore Mayor Malini Gaud, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Mhow MLA Usha Thakur even as Marathi community is seeking ticket to Mahajan’s son Milind or Mandhar.
Initially, it was though that the BJP would not filed Vijayavargiya from Indore as his son (Akash) is already an MLA from Indore-3 seat. But Congress took its general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia’s name under consideration for Indore seat, Vijayvargiya seems to have become an obvious choice of BJP. BJP believes that Vijayvargiya is the only candidate who can defeat Scindia in Indore.
