My son Akash has requested JP Nadda to not consider his candidature for MP polls Kailash Vijayvargiya

Indore, Oct 16 (PTI) BJP MLA from Indore Akash Vijayvargiya has requested party chief J P Nadda to not consider his candidature for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections as the party has given a ticket to his father and senior leader Kailash Vijayvargiya.
    This was disclosed on Monday by senior Vijayvargiya, the BJP nominee from the Indore-1 seat. He said Akash had written a letter to Nadda at his discretion.
    Polling for 230 seats in MP will be held in a single phase on November 17 and votes will be counted on December 3.
    After BJP picked 67-year-old Vijayvargiya as a contestant, speculation was doing rounds that Akash (39), who represents the Indore-3 assembly constituency, may be dropped this time. The BJP has not yet announced the candidate for the Indore-3 seat.
    "Our prime minister is against nepotism," Kailash Vijayvargiya told reporters at the local BJP office.
    “As soon as I was given a ticket, Akash wrote a letter to the party president, saying since I (Kailash) have been picked as a contestant, his (Akash's) candidature should not be considered,” he said.
    He said Akash wrote this letter at his discretion without asking him.
    "This is Akash's greatness. I appreciate this move,” Kailash Vijayargiya said.
    Queried on the demand of Akash's supporters to field him again from the Indore-3 segment, the senior Vijayvargiya said this means that his son is "very popular" in the region.
    "Even today, when Indore-3 residents meet me, they ask if they should go to the prime minister demanding a ticket for Akash. I tell these people that there is no need for them to do this as we will accept the decision of the party and work for whichever candidate gets a ticket from Indore-3,” he said.
    When asked if the BJP has sidelined Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan by not declaring him as the CM face, the senior Vijayvargiya said it is the BJP's strategy in all five election-bound states, including MP, to contest under the leadership of PM Modi on the backing of the BJP organisation.
    "There is no reason to question this strategy," he said, adding that Chouhan is his old friend.
    The Congress has fielded Vikram Mastal, who played Lord Hanuman in the TV serial Ramayan 2, to challenge Chouhan in his traditional Budhni seat.
    When asked for his reaction, Kailash Vijayvargiya said, "We are devotees of the original Lord Hanuman and we have faith in him”.
    In a swipe at Congress, he termed the 144 candidates declared by the opposition party in the first list as "fused bulbs". "A series of such bulbs does not light despite all efforts,” he added.
    He expressed apprehension that Congress might scrap the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government's flagship the 'Ladli Behna Yojana' aimed at empowerment of women if it is voted to power.
    When asked about the possibility of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee coming to Indore to campaign against BJP, Vijayvargiya, who has worked in the eastern state as poll-minder for the saffron party, said unlike West Bengal, politics of hitting below the waist is not played in Madhya Pradesh".
    "If Banerjee comes here (Indore) and speaks something about me, will the people believe her?" he asked.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)