- Congress prepares panels for all 9 assembly seats of Indore district, indications are that, final decision will be taken in meeting in Delhi
- BJP will declare list after workers Mahakumbh Jan Ashirwad Yatra to be held in presence of PM
Milind Muzumdar, Indore
The ticket distribution process of BJP and Congress is going on at a fast pace. Sitting in Bhopal, Congress has almost prepared the first list of 103 names. These include the names of candidates from all 9 assembly constituencies of Indore district. According to sources, there is a single name for four seats in the Congress list while panels have been formed for 5 seats. Even though Congress has made many efforts for survey and feedback, there are indications that ultimately candidate selection will again be done on factional basis.
The selection process of Congress is going to shift to Delhi. Once again the State Screening Committee meeting is being held in Delhi in the presence of Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, Randeep Surjewala and Kamal Nath. After this, the final decision will be taken in the meeting of the Central Selection Committee.
According to sources, KC Venugopal may also attend these meetings. Congress is preparing to declare its first list on September 15. Here, all the regional big leaders of BJP are busy in preparing for Jan Ashirwad Yatra and the workers Mahakumbh to be held in Bhopal on 25th September. Jan Ashirwad Yatras will reach Bhopal on 25th September where a Karyakarta Mahakumbh will be held on the occasion of its conclusion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President JP and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be present to address this Mahakumbh. Sources say that BJP will announce its second list only after this Mahakumbh.
Sources say that among the names decided in the list of Congress for Indore, 2 are of Kamal Nath’s choice, 2 are of Digvijay Singh’s choice, one is of Pachori’s choice, 2 are of Gandhi family’s choice, the names of the remaining 2 areas are on hold. According to sources, Suresh Pachori has played a special role in making consensus on making Sanjay Shukla, MLA from Assembly Constituency 1, a candidate again. Former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh has proposed the name of Chintu Choukse from area number 2 and Pintu (Deepak) Joshi from area number 3.
Ashwin Joshi, a former MLA from Region 3, also has a claim, but due to the defeat in the last election and the support of Kamal Nath’s trusted former minister-MLA Sajjan Verma to Pintu Joshi, Ashwin Joshi’s claim is being considered weak. Of the two names that have been agreed upon for area number 4, one is that of builder Raja Mandhwani of Sajjan Verma’s choice and the other name is that of Akshay Bam, son of Digvijay Singh’s friend Kanti Bam. Mandhwani’s name has been put forward on the basis of majority of Sindhi votes while Akshay’s name has been put forward on the basis of majority of Jain voters. In Kamal Nath’s survey, the reports of both of them are not positive.
Kamal Nath is still searching for a strong name from this area. His trusted people had also cast their influence on senior BJP leader-national poet Satya Narayan Sattan, but since the time of Jan Sangh, Sattan, dedicated to the ideology and party, resisted all kinds of temptations. While stumbling, he gave the message that the party is more important for him than personal interest. The Gandhi family has to decide the name of the candidate from area number 5. Former MLA Satya Narayan Patel and educationist Swapnil Kothari – both of them have been active from here for a long time. There is a competition going on between the two contenders for everything from Katha-Bhajan-Bhandare to connecting different societies with themselves.
Since both Sattu Patel and Kothari have direct influence in the Gandhi family, it will have to be decided by Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi to finalize the names from here. In Depalpur, former MLA Vishal Patel has indicated his preparation to contest elections again. Like the previous elections, this time too Moti Singh Patel has been roaming around in Delhi-Bhopal making claim, but Chandra Prabhash Shekhar’s activism in making him the President of Indore Milk Union was due to Kamal Nath’s suggestion, Moti Singh Patel also knows this.
In such a situation, if Kamal Nath camp is not taking his claim seriously, then another reason for it is Vishal Patel winning the election from Depalpur in 2018. Vishal Patel camp also cannot deny the truth that Moti Singh also has the votes of the society.
There is no concrete reason for Jitu Patwari, MLA from Rau constituency, not getting the ticket. Besides, his closeness to Rahul Gandhi is also a strong reason for him to contest elections again. It is certain that he will get the ticket from Rau again because he won the last election from this constituency and has also been a minister. Kamal Nath is not ready to give ticket again to former MLA Antar Singh Darbar from Mhow assembly constituency. Other leaders including Digvijay Singh are also of the opinion that Darbar is no longer a winning face in Mhow. Sensing the seriousness of the demand for a local candidate which is gaining momentum among both the parties in Mhow, Congress is also looking for a strong local leader. Congress is also working on the possibilities of breaking into BJP for a suitable candidate-shocker. Mhow is definitely the home constituency of Seva Dal state president Yogesh Yadav, but the leaders of Delhi-Bhopal believe that finalizing Yadav’s name can also cause the party to lose the Mhow seat. There is a consensus among Congress leaders on the name of Reena Borasi from Saver Assembly constituency. Her father, former MLA Premchand Guddu himself was seeking ticket from Alot, his daughter’s name is being considered finalized only after he got success in preparing the name of Reena Borasi.
