Campaign Ends for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh By-Elections

The upcoming by-elections to two Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh have generated much interest in the state for different reasons.

Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s political legacy has been put to test in the by-elections to the Budhni Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh since his ‘protégé’ and former MP Ramakant Bhargav is seeking election from the seat, vacated by the former following his election to the Lok Sabha in the last polls.

The Congress has fielded veteran leader Raj Kumar Patel, who was a minister in the Digvijay Singh cabinet, in the seat to take on Mr Bhargav.

The Assembly constituency has a sizeable number of Karar community and both Mr Chouhan and Mr Patel belonged to the community.

“Congress feels that the party can at least divide Karar votes by fielding Mr Patel. Besides, Mr Patel who represented the Assembly seat in 1993 is considered the best bet for the party to give Mr Bhargav a run for his money in the by-elections”, a Congress functionary said here on Monday.

The BJP has however ruled out the possibility of Mr Patel dividing the Karar community votes in the by-elections.

“Mr Chouhan who represented Budhni five times has a strong sway over the people in the constituency. His influence over the voters in the constituency has remained undiminished in the last two decades”, a BJP functionary said here.

In the last Assembly polls, he had won the seat with a record margin of 1,64, 951 votes.

“In fact, his political legacy is put to test in the by-elections to Budhni”, another BJP leader said.

By-polls to Budhni necessitated the election of Mr Chouhan, sitting MLA, to the LS in the last elections.

The second seat which is going to Assembly by-elections in Madhya Pradesh is Vijaypur where state forest minister Ram Niwas Rawat is seeking re-election from the seat as a BJP candidate.

Mr Rawat, an eight-time MLA from the seat, had won the seat in the November 2023 Assembly elections as a Congress candidate.

He however switched over to the BJP before the last LS elections and resigned from the house, necessitating the by-elections to Vijaypur.

He is pitted against Mukesh Malhotra, a tribal leader, by Congress.

In Raipur (South) Assembly seat in Chhattisgarh, BJP has fielded sitting MLA and former minister Brij Mohan Agrawal’s ‘protégé’ Sunil Soni to retain the constituency.

Eight-time MLA Mr Agrawal was elected to LS in the last LS polls necessitating the by-elections to the Assembly seat.

Congress has fielded youth leader Akash Sharma to take on Mr Soni.