Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan victories needed to cement alliance with NCP : Congress

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have made substantial progress in their discussions about seat-sharing in Maharashtra for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, reaching an agreement on 40 out of 48 seats in the state, but Congress leaders said the prospective alliance would depend to a great extent on the outcome of the upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

“At least Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan should go our way. Only then we can be sure that the NCP will shed its ambiguous position towards the BJP. If the results don’t go in our favour, then the NCP can be unpredictable,” said a Congress leader, who did not wish to be identified.

Congress leaders said that they had reason to be apprehensive about the NCP’s stance given NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s recent comments in an interview seemingly absolving prime minister Narendra Modi in the controversy over the Rafale aircraft deal by claiming that “people did not doubt Modi’s intentions”. BJP chief Amit Shah, they said, had seized on the remark and asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi to take a lesson from it.
“The NCP being unpredictable is public knowledge. They unanimously called off an alliance with us for the Maharashtra assembly polls after coming to know that Modi had come to power,” said the Congress leader. “Then they announced support for a BJP government in Maharashtra even when the latter had not asked for support. They claimed that they were doing so because they didn’t want the government to fall quickly as the state could not afford elections.” The president of the NCP’s Maharashtra unit, Jayant Patil, remained unavailable for comments despite several calls and a message sent to his phone.

Congress leaders said that the NCP had a pattern of switching sides on flimsy grounds or for reasons that made little political sense. For instance, in the 2007 Mumbai civic polls, the NCP had helped the Shiv Sena-BJP combine by deciding to break the alliance with the Congress over one seat, said a Congress leader.

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MP Assembly Polls 2018: Vajpayee’s nephew in BJP’s second list of 17 candidates

The second list was released in New Delhi by Union Minister J P Nadda, who is also secretary of the BJP’s Central Election Committee.

The BJP on November 5 declared its second list of 17 candidates for the November 28 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, fielding Lok Sabha member Anoop Mishra, who is the nephew of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and two women nominees.

With this, the ruling party has so far announced 194 candidates in the state, which has a total of 230 assembly seats. The first list was released last November 2.

The second list was released in New Delhi by Union Minister J P Nadda, who is also secretary of the BJP’s Central Election Committee.

Mishra, the Lok Sabha MP from Morena, will contest from Bhitarwar in Gwalior district. He had unsuccessfully fought the 2013 assembly polls from the same constituency.

In 2014, he won from the Morena Lok Sabha seat.

The BJP has fielded Nirmala Bhuriya, daughter of former MP and tribal leader Dilip Singh Bhuriya, from Petlawad (ST) in Jhabua district.

In 2015, she had lost the bypoll from Jhabua-Ratlam Lok Sabha constituency, which fell vacant following the death of her father.

The second woman in the list, Leena Jain, has been nominated from Basoda in Vidisha district.

The list also contains the names of some sitting MLAs, including Sharad Jain (Jabalpur North), who is also a minister.

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It’s ‘one family, one ticket’ as BJP fields kin of senior leaders in MP

Faced with anti-incumbency and pressure from its leaders, BJP has done a tight-rope walk between changing sitting MLAs in its candidates’ list and accommodating the kin of those who have the potential to defeat the official nominee in case their wishes are not fulfilled.

Two such names figured in the third list of candidates for Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections released on Thursday, a day before the last date of nominations. The ego tussles between its top leaders in the state has led to the delay in declaration of names. BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya’s son Akash will be the BJP candidate from Indore-3 seat. His name was finalised after some bad blood within the party.

Vijayvargiya had issued a statement a day before the announcement that Akash will win from whichever seat he contests the election, thus throwing a virtual challenge to the party leadership. The candidature of Akash was held up as Lok Sabha speaker and Indore MP Sumitra Mahajan wanted her son Mandaar also to be fielded from one of the Indore seats but this was not acceptable to the party. Since she was away on an official visit to Argentina, senior party leaders met Mahajan when she returned on November 5 to discuss the issue. She has, however, denied that she ever wanted a ticket for her son.

Former chief minister Babulal Gaur’s daughter-in-law Krishna will contest from Govindpura seat. Gaur had quit the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet some years ago after he crossed the 75-year age cut-off.

Congress leader Prem Chandra Guddu, who has switched over to the BJP, is also said to be in talks for a ticket for his son Ajit.

In most cases where BJP has denied tickets to sitting MLAs, it has accommodated a kin of the outgoing legislator. Lakshminarayan Yadav’s son Sudhir Yadav has been fielded from Surkhi seat.
Similarly, sons of ministers Gauri Shankar Sejwal and Harsh Singh are in the fray in their place.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar reportedly wants his son Devendra to be fielded from one of the seats in Gwalior which he represents in the Lok Sabha.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been asked by the central leadership to pander to the wishes of some of the leaders he is not on good terms as not doing so may cost the BJP these seats. Chouhan’s brother-in-law Sanjay Singh Mesani joined the Congress and has been given the ticket from Wara Seoni seat.
Mahajan has also taken a backseat as Vijayvargiya has managed to get the ticket to his followers in Indore. Similarly, some of the candidates in Tomar’s area are not from his camp though he has been entrusted with the task of ensuring BJP candidates in the region win their seats. Meanwhile, BJP leader Sartaj Singh joined Congress on Thursday as he was not fielded by his party. Congress has given him the ticket from Hoshangabad.

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MP Polls : Big setback for BJP in MP as CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s brother-in-law joins Congress

In a big setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s brother-in-law Sanjay Singh joined the Congress party on Saturday. Madhya Pradesh assembly elections will be held on 28 November to elect members of the 230 constituencies.

CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is seeking 4th term while the Indian National Congress is hoping to comeback to power in the state after 15 years.

Meanwhile, a Dalit leader from MP Congress Premchand Guddu joined the BJP yesterday. Guddu joined the saffron party in the presence its senior leaders from the state, including Narendra Singh Tomar, Thaawarchand Gehlot and Kailash Vijayvargiya, and hit out at the Congress as a party of “raja and maharaja”.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan have been working for the poor, the Congress is being run as an “elite class” with no concern for Dalits and the downtrodden, he said.

Guddu was considered close to Congress leader and former chief minister Digvijay Singh and had been feeling sidelined in the party.

Few days before, Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia entered into a verbal spat over ticket distribution and choice of candidates in presence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. While Jyotiraditya Scindia is the chief of the campaign committee of the Madhya Pradesh Congress, Digvijaya Singh is the coordination committee chief for the Madhya Pradesh assembly election.

However, the former CM refuted media reports about the infighting and said that the Congress is united to fight and defeat the corrupt BJP government.

According to media inputs, party members have been instructed to not talk about the ongoing infighting between Singh and Scindia.

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Why MP matters for the Congress

To win a heartland state will improve the Congress’s national standing and its ability to bring together a wider anti-BJP alliance nationally. Gandhi has set the stage for a fierce battle. The outcome will shape national politics.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi kicked off his party’s campaign in Madhya Pradesh’s Malwa-Nimar region on Monday and Tuesday. This is a particularly crucial belt in the state’s politics, for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 56 of the 66 seats here in the last elections. If the Congress is to displace the BJP from the state, it has to make a dent here. Gandhi, along with state leaders, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, visited the Mahakal temple in Ujjain; addressed public rallies in Ujjain and Jhabua; and did a road show in Indore on Monday. And on Tuesday, he had public meetings in Dhar, Khargone and Mhow.

In all his public utterances, certain themes were common. These are now clearly emerging as an integral part of Gandhi and the Congress’ campaign messages for both the state elections and the 2019 battle. One, he launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for siding with rich industrialists, waiving their loans, letting them flee the country, and engaging in corruption and cronyism on Rafale. These allegations were interspersed with the cry of “chowkidar chor hai” (the watchman is a thief), a slogan that Gandhi and the Congress have made their own. This is a high stakes gamble. Modi’s biggest strength has been the electorate’s faith in his intent and integrity; the Congress wants to shatter that. If it works, Rahul will deserve credit for persistence and changing the narrative. But there is an equally high possibility of this backfiring, for there is no evidence to indicate that Modi is today seen as personally corrupt and he could well play the victim card. The second theme in Gandhi’s speech was his claim that as opposed to the BJP, the Congress was for the poor, farmers, Dalits and tribals. The Mandasur killings and agrarian distress have given the Congress ammunition to make this claim. The BJP, however, hopes to neutralise this with its range of both central and state welfare schemes. Gandhi’s third line of attack centred around Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s governance record and “corruption”. Chouhan hit back at a factual inaccuracy in Gandhi’s speech, when the Congress president claimed that the CM’s son was named in the Panama papers.

The larger story emerging from Gandhi’s campaign is how Madhya Pradesh matters to the Congress. In fact, this could well be the most important of the five state elections. It is the largest state going to the polls; the BJP has been in power for 15 years and it is imperative for the Congress to be able to make a comeback to sustain its own party organisation and cadre morale; the state has 29 Lok Sabha seats and success now could translate into success in 2019; to win a heartland state will improve the Congress’s national standing and its ability to bring together a wider anti-BJP alliance nationally. Gandhi has set the stage for a fierce battle. The outcome will shape national politics.

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MP polls: Rahul Gandhi starts campaign in BJP’s bastion

Congress president Rahul Gandhi arrived in the Malwa-Nimad region of the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Monday for a two-day election campaign.

The Gandhi scion, along with senior party leaders — Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath and Member of Parliament from Guna Jyotiraditya Scindia, visited the Mahakaleshwar temple and paid obeisance to Lord Shiva.

Congress has been hoping to make inroads into the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) bastion for over a decade.

The Congress party had managed just nine out of the 66 seats, belonging to the region. The Malwa-Nimad region accounts for the state’s 66 out of the total 230 assembly seats.

Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on November 28, 2018. The results will be declared on December 11, 2018.

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MP polls: Rahul Gandhi to begin Malwa tour tomorrow after visit to Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain

Months after BJP president Amit Shah’s visit to the Mahakaleshwar temple in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will on Monday perform a puja at the famous ‘jyotirlinga‘ in Ujjain before embarking on a two-day tour of the BJP-dominated Malwa-Nimar region.

Shah had visited the abode of Lord Shiva on 14 July this year before flagging off the “Jan Ashirwad Yatra” of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The BJP has been accusing Rahul of playing the “soft Hindutva card” to attract the voters in poll-bound states.

During his two-day tour beginning Monday, Rahul will address rallies in Jhabua, Indore, Dhar, Khargone and Mhow and also take part in a road show in Indore.

In Madhya Pradesh, where elections are scheduled to be held on 28 November, the Congress has been struggling to oust the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) from power for the last 15 years.

“During his visit to the Mahakaleshwar temple (one of the 12 ‘jyotirlingas‘ of Lord Shiva), Rahul will worship the Lord Mahakal like a common devotee,”

According to a programme released by Congress, Rahul will address public meetings at Ujjain and Jhabua, respectively, after visiting the Mahakal temple.

He is also scheduled to participate in a road show to be organised by the Congress in Indore on Monday evening, and will address a public meeting at Rajwada.

On Tuesday, Rahul will interact with news editors and the business community in two separate programmes at Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh. He will later address public meetings at Dhar and Khargone.

On Tuesday evening, the Congress chief would address a public meeting at Mhow after offering tribute at the memorial of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar’s birthplace. Mhow, about 23 kilometres from Indore, is the birthplace of Ambedkar.

Earlier, the Congress had proclaimed Rahul as a “Shiv-bhakt” (a devotee of Lord Shiva) ahead of the assembly elections held in Gujarat last year.

Gandhi began canvassing in Madhya Pradesh last month by offering prayers at the famous Kamta Nath temple in Satna district’s Chitrakoot town.

Meanwhile, the BJP Sunday ridiculed Gandhi for visiting temples in poll-bound states.

Apart from Madhya Pradesh, elections are also scheduled to be held in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan — both currently ruled by the BJP — and the north-eastern state of Mizoram, where the Congress is in power, in the next two months.

BJP national vice-president Prabhat Jha said, “Congress has been making false allegations against BJP about playing religion-based politics. Now, Rahul should answer why he is running to temples ahead of elections?

“The Congress president should also clarify why he and his mother Sonia Gandhi did not visit the Mahakal temple during previous visits,” he said.

Jha alleged that Rahul was trying to mislead people by pretending himself as a religions person for the sake of electoral gains.

When asked about BJP’s criticism, Kapoor said, “Rahul is visiting the Mahakal temple as a devotee of Lord Shiva..in pure sense of devotion. Do the BJP leaders solely reserve the right to worship Lord Shiva? Lord Shiva is for all.”

Kapoor clarified that Rahul’s likely visit to Janapav near Mhow, which is the birthplace of Lord Parshuram, could not materialise due to his busy schedule.

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Satta market bets big on BJP in MP and Chhattisgarh, Congress in Rajasthan

Highlights
“We are confident that the BJP would make a comeback while scope for the Congress is slim in MP. BJP would also win Chhattisgarh whereas Congress will make a comeback in Rajasthan,” said a bookie
Satta market in every election runs in crores. Bets are placed not just over phone, but also on websites and online mobile applications

Whether BJP would form government for the fourth time or Congress will make a comeback after 15 years in Madhya Pradesh?

While a political party may win or lose but the ensuing elections would bring in some extra moolah for bookies in the festive season.

As the parties struggle to finalise candidates, the satta market is already on a high this election season.

If the trend in satta markets is anything to go by, BJP would make a comeback in MP. Bookies are bullish on ruling BJP in the election. The rates in satta market point at the possibility.

As per the bookies, if a person places a bet of Rs 10,000 on BJP, he would get Rs 11,000 in return if the party comes to power while in case of Congress, the stake holder tends to lose Rs 10,000 for placing a bet of Rs 4,400.It means profit is offered more on Congress by punters believing that the party would not be able to make a comeback in this assembly election. Profit margin is low for BJP since bookies believe more people would like to place a bet on BJP.

“We are confident that the BJP would make a comeback while scope for the Congress is slim in MP. BJP would also win Chhattisgarh whereas Congress will make a comeback in Rajasthan. The satta market is running good this poll season. Rates may vary once the tickets are finalised by the parties, but we expect the trend to remain the same,” said a bookie.

Satta market in every election runs in crores. Bets are placed not just over phone, but also on websites and online mobile applications, leaving almost no room for police to nab the bookies and the ones placing the bet.

Probably, this is the reason why no gang has been busted in state so far for running election betting racket. And it is not that people in major cities, including Bhopal are not into betting. At least three cases of betting are registered daily in Bhopal. The craze of betting is more for cricket and it is shifted to politics only during the polls.

Officials said busting an online betting racket is a challenge as such gangs keep moving from one place to another. Online betting can be operated even from a moving car, café or from any public place in the city, state or from any other part of the country.

DIG Dharmendra Choudhary said the police are running special campaigns against criminals involved in gambling and betting ahead of elections. The criminals are being made to sign bonds to prevent them from committing such crimes in the future. He said that crime branch, Bhopal monitors and keeps an eye on online betting. Raids are being conducted on receiving specific tips to nab criminals. Police station level actions were also taken against such illegal betting and gambling dens being operated in the city.

ASP (Crime) Rashmi Mishra said crime branch activated its network of informers in the city prior to elections to keep an eye on illegal activities. She said that it is difficult to crack online betting and gambling rackets, but police take actions against criminals after specific inputs.

Speaking about websites and mobile apps for gambling, IG (Bhopal) Jaideep Prasad said police would act against such rackets on getting specific inputs and complaints. The state cyber cell keeps a constant vigil on such websites and mobile apps and take necessary action, he said.

SP (cyber cell) Bhopal Rajesh Bhadouria said the cyber cell takes action against any criminal activity which falls under the provisions of IT Act. The cyber cell is keeping a constant vigil on cyber-crimes in view of upcoming elections, he said, adding, action is taken on basis of any intelligence or information received on any specific activity.

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Congress discusses candidates for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh state polls

The assembly polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in two-phases on November 12 and 20 while Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on November 28

The Congress on October 26 discussed names of candidates for Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and second-phase of polling in Chhattisgarh, party sources said.

The Congress Central Election Committee met under Rahul Gandhi late in the evening here and decided names of candidates for a number of seats for the two states but did not make them public.

The assembly polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in two-phases on November 12 and 20 while Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on November 28.

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Weeks Ahead Of MP Elections, Congress Hits A Roadblock With Ally

Congress has been winning this seat since 1972, except losing it only twice- in 1990 assembly elections and 2012 bypoll.

An Assembly constituency in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh has become a bone of contention between the Congress and Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS), a fledgling tribal political outfit, which are currently engaged in alliance talks for the next month’s state polls.

The seat sharing talks between them have apparently hit a roadblock, as both are keen on contesting election from Kukshi seat in western MP, currently held by the Congress.

The JAYS wants to field its candidate from Kukshi, although the Congress says it does not want to part with this seat as it has been its traditional stronghold. The opposition party has been winning this seat since 1972, except losing it only twice- in 1990 assembly elections and 2012 bypoll.

Talking to PTI on Friday, JAYS convener Dr Hiralal Alawa said, “Our seat-sharing talks with the Congress are underway. We want to contest the upcoming election from 40 assembly constituencies. Fighting from Kukshi due to our strong presence there is top on our agenda.”

Another JAYS leader said, “We have categorically told the Congress that we want to contest from Kukshi. The fate of alliance depends on this seat. If the Congress is adamant for this seat, then the alliance talks might even fail.”

“We have already demonstrated our strength in Kukshi by organising Kisan Panchayat programme held on October 2. Over one lakh tribal youths had taken part in the event,” he added.

Kukshi seat is currently held by Congress’ Surendra Singh Baghel, a supporter of senior party leader Digvijay Singh.

Baghel said he was all set to contest the upcoming polls from this seat, and also expressed confidence that he would win it with a huge margin.

Another Congress leader said, “Kukshi is our traditional seat and we can’t let it go so easily.”

The JAYS has made its presence felt in 22 tribal seats spread across Alirajpur, Ratlam, Jhabua, Dhar, Khargone, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Dewas and Barwani districts in Malwa-Nimar region of western MP, which has a sizable tribal population.

Of these 22 constituencies reserved for tribals, the Congress currently holds five seats.

The state leadership of the Congress is keen on joining hands with the JAYS in Malwa-Nimar region that comprises 66 assembly seats. The Congress does not have a strong presence in this region. Currently, the Congress only has nine MLAs as against the ruling BJP’s 56 legislators in the region.

Besides, this time the Congress is treading cautiously as it seems to have learnt a lesson from its disastrous defeat in the 2003 state elections when a tribal political outfit Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) in eastern MP had eaten into its vote bank.

Although the GGP managed to win only three seats in eastern MP in 2003, it had nibbled into a major share of the Congress’ traditional tribal vote bank. The GGP had won

5,17,270 votes, especially in the tribal-dominated areas.

The Congress had managed to win only 38 assembly seats out of all the 230 constituencies in the state, whereas the BJP had won 173 seats in the 2003 polls.

The opposition party, which has been out of power in MP since the last 15 years, had earlier tried to stitch an alliance with the BSP for the upcoming elections, although it failed to work out.

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