AAP releases second list of 29 candidates for MP polls; question mark over electoral alliance of I.N.D.I.A allies in state

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a key constituent of the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc, released its second list of 29 candidates for the year-end assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh.

The move of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has further reduced the possibility of the I.N.D.I.A bloc alliance working in the MP elections.

So far, the AAP has declared candidates on 39 seats for upcoming assembly polls in the state. It had released its first list of 10 candidates earlier last month.

The second list of candidates included Mamta Meena, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, who had joined the AAP during last month after she was denied a ticket by the saffron party from Chachoura. The AAP has fielded her from the same constituency.

In the list, released through the AAP's X account on Monday night, the candidates for three Scheduled Tribe (ST) and four Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved seats were also declared.

The AAP also declared two candidates from Bhopal city including Mohammed Saud (Bhopal North) and Raisa Begum Malik (Narela).

From Indore district, three candidates were declared - Sunil Choudhary (Mhow), Anurag Yadav (Indore-1) and Piyush Joshi (Indore-4).

The list includes the names of Ramani Devi Jatav (Bhander), Rahul Kushwaha (Bhind), Satinder Bhadoriya (Mehgaon), Chahat Mani Pandey (Damoh), Chanda Kinnar (Malhara), Sunil Choudhary (Mhow), Bheru Singh Anare (Gandhwani), Anoop Goyal (Shivpuri), Sunil Gour (Seoni-Malwa), Anand Singh (Bargi), Pankaj Pathak (Panagar) and Vijay Mohan Palha (Patan).

The AAP, which is currently in power in Delhi and Punjab, also fielded Nan Singh Nawde (Sendhwa), Dilip Singh Guddu (Deotalab), Varun Ambedkar (Mangawan), Umesh Tripathi (Mauganj), Varun Gujjar Khatik (Raigaon), Usha Kol (Manpur), Ratibhan Saket (Devsar), Anand Mangal Singh (Sidhi), Amit Bhatnagar (Bijawar), Bhagirath Patel (Chhatarpur), Subodh Swami (Nagda-Khachrod) and Deepak Singh Patel (Rewa).

The ruling BJP in MP has so far declared 79 candidates in three separate lists, while the Congress has not issued any list of candidates so far.

The AAP and the Congress, two key members of the opposition INDIA bloc, have not yet decided whether they will fight the polls as alliance partners or not in the MP elections.

After a meeting in Delhi during last month, INDIA bloc had announced a joint rally in Bhopal in the first week of October but MP Congress chief Kamal Nath later said that it has been cancelled.

In the last assembly elections held in 2018, the Congress had won 114 seats in the 230-member Assembly and form a coalition government. The BJP had won 109 seats. The Congress government led by Kamal Nath collapsed in March 2020, following which the BJP returned to power and Shivraj Singh Chouhan became the chief minister for the fourth time.