After the unexpected drubbing in the assembly polls of November 2023, the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh might find it difficult to find strong candidates to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, with senior leaders not showing much interest, at least till now.
Former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh has already said ‘no’ to contesting the general elections this time. Addressing media persons in Khilchipur of Rajgarh recently, Singh said that two more years of his Rajya Sabha tenure is left and thus he won’t be contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
Singh was among the earliest candidates to be announced for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the prestigious Bhopal seat. However, the BJP’s last minute manoeuver in pitting Pragya Singh Thakur, an aggressive Hindutva face opposite him saw Singh lose the polls with a margin of 3.65 lakhs votes.
In Chhattisgarh, former deputy chief minister T.S. Singh Deo has also said that he won’t be able to contest the LS polls due to personal reasons. Singh Deo was defeated with a very slim margin in the recent assembly polls.
Despite reasons cited by the leaders, political watchers feel that with the political atmosphere in Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh no better suited to Congress than 2019, the senior leaders are probably thinking better than taking a risk of contesting the LS polls.
Poll related meetings have been conducted by Congress state in-charges – Jitendra Singh for Madhya Pradesh and Sachin Pilot for Chhattisgarh – during the past week. Lok Sabha level coordinators have been asked to suggest the names of possible candidates and even aspirants themselves are allowed to apply for tickets.
However, none of the senior leaders in both the states have yet shown an active interest, sources said. About 160 applications have been received in Chhattisgarh, but most of them are from young leaders and some office bearers.
The party, however, seems intent on fielding senior leaders including former ministers and office bearers to lay its best claim in the two Hindi heartland states. Ruling BJP holds 28 of 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh and nine of 11 parliamentary seats in Chhattisgarh and the Congress has not much to lose.
Political watchers feel that fielding of senior leaders will not only give the Congress a fighting chance, but also resolve the issue of resource crunch that the party is facing, especially in Madhya Pradesh where it has been out of power for 20 years now.
Among those senior leaders that the party might look to field in Madhya Pradesh include ex-chief minister Kamal Nath, currently MLA of Chhindwara, from the Chhindwara LS seat – the only seat that the Congress currently holds with Nath’s son Nakul as the MP.
Other names that might be fielded include former union ministers and state Congress president Kantilal Bhuria, Arun Yadav and Suresh Pachouri from Ratlam, Khandwa and Bhopal or Narmadapuram, respectively, former leader of opposition Govind Singh from Gwalior, six-times ex-MLA K.P. Singh from Guna-Shivpuri and former leader of opposition Ajay Singh (current MLA of Churhat) from Sidhi seat.
In Chhattisgarh, Congress is likely to find candidates from among former ministers. The current members of parliament—party state president Deepak Baij from Bastar and Jyotsna Mahant from Korba—might be retained. Ex-state president Mohan Markam might be fielded from Kanker. Whether ex-chief minister Bhupesh Baghel is fielded will depend on the central leadership, chief of screening committee Rajni Patil had told the media persons.
The Congress wants to come out with lists of candidates in February itself to give enough time to its candidates for preparation. However, the candidates’ selection might not be a very easy process for the party – not because of too many, but too few strong candidates.
