Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, along with state party chief Rakesh Singh and organisational general secretary Suhash Bhagat, rushed to Delhi twice in three days to help finalise the names.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday announced the first list of its candidates for Madhya Pradesh Assembly election which will take place on November 28. The party held back 53 names as different party factions are locked in a battle for their share of candidates. The list of 177 names was cleared by the party central election committee headed by party chief Amit Shah after hectic parleys at the top level for over three days in Delhi. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, along with state party chief Rakesh Singh and organisational general secretary Suhash Bhagat, rushed to Delhi twice in three days to help finalise the names.
While it was largely expected that tainted ministers (and there are many in Shivraj cabinet) besides a number of sitting MLAs would be shown the door, the first list has dropped only three ministers. Urban Development Minister Maya Singh and Forest Minister Dr Gauri Shankar Shejwar, against whom corruption charges were flying thick and fast, have been benched. The third minister is Harsh Singh who has been suffering from health problems following a brain haemorrhage. More than 35 sitting MLAs have been denied tickets, including the three ministers named above.
Party sources said CM Chouhan, in an effort to cut the anti-incumbency impact and return to power, was in favour of dropping over 60-70 legislators, including many ministers, but party high command did not seem to agree with his plan. While names of many prominent leaders, like Revenue Minister Umashankar Gupta (Bhopal), Health Minister Rustam Singh ( Morena), PWD Minister Rampal Singh ( Silwani), Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya (Damoh) and Surendra Patwa (Bhojpur), were making the rounds for having been dropped by the party, Friday's list shows many of them have survived. "It seems that the party did not want to take a risk of dissidence at this crucial time and opted for soft targets of those MLAs who were not very strong politically," an insider said.
Patwa's case is peculiar. He is a wilful defaulter of Bank of Baroda, Indore branch to the tune of Rs 35 crore or more. Surendra, nephew of former CM Sunderlal Patwa, owns three different business units dealing in automobiles. The bank management had recently issued an advertisement in newspapers naming him among the wilful defaulters and Patwa had said he was being damaged politically by some people, but had not denied he owed some much to the bank. This led to the doubts in political circles that he would not get party's nomination in times when growing NPAs had become a hot political issue.
Meanwhile, Shivraj Singh who had contested from two seats of Vidisha and Budhni in 2013 to contain damage locally, will now contest only from his traditional seat of Budhni in Sehore district near Bhopal. Mukesh Tandon, chairman of Vidisha Nagar Panchayat, is the new party face for Vidisha.
Keeping in mind the tough fight the Congress is expected to give this time round, the BJP has fielded two popular MPs — Nagendra Singh (Nagod) and Manohar Untwal (Agar) — who are locally popular and are expected to retain these seats.
The second list, including those of Indore, the commercial capital, has been held back due to sharp differences. Indore's eight tickets have been put on hold as Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is in Argentina. Her bête noire and party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya is seeking ticket for his son in his place, but the decision would disturb many sitting MLAs, sources said. The second listed is to be released after Sumitra Mahajan's return from abroad.
Three Ministers Dropped
Maya Singh, Urban Development Minister
While local BJP sources say Maya Singh’s name was among those to be axed, not many actually believed the possibility given her family lineage and its close association with the BJP. But if Singh’s victory margin is anything to go by, she was unlikely to retain her seat this time round. Besides party’s internal survey showed her weak position, sources said she was unable to run the urban development department where she was shadowed by other officers. Given the backdrop, dropping her from the list does not cost the BJP much, as she is unlikely to create any problems.
Dr Gauri Shankar Shejwar, Forest Minister
Once a leader of opposition in the 90s, Shejwar was known to be a good orator and created good impression in the Assembly when Digivijay Singh was chief minister. When Uma Bharti was expelled from BJP and she formed her own Jan Shakti Party in 2006, Shejwar was among those who had joined it leaving the BJP. But the main reason offered by BJP insiders for his removal is his tainted reputation. Known for his brazen attitude, Shejwar did not have many takers in the party. But to save the seat, his son has been nominated by the party.
Harsh Singh, Minister of State for Water Resources
Singh, the son of former chief minister Govind Narayan Singh, held different departments under CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, including energy and rural industries. He also enjoyed a reputation of being an honest politician. But due to his health condition after suffering from a brain haemorrhage, he had indicated to the party that he would not like to contest. Rampur Baghelan is a traditional seat of the Singh family which the party has protected by making his son the candidate.
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