Congress gains from BJP dilemma

The BJP’s apparent dilemma over candidates for Bhopal, Indore and Vidisha, the three fortresses of the party, has enabled the Congress to gain an initial perceptional advantage over the rival.

In the Bhopal seat, the BJP is undecided who should be fielded against former chief minister Digvijay Singh.

The party considers sitting MP Alok Sanjar too lightweight to take on the Congress stalwart.

Now, Indore is also embroiled in an intra-party squabbles as the most acceptable candidate and Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Majahan has bowed out of the election race.

Like Sumitra, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is also out of the contest from Vidisha, which is considered the safest BJP citadel.

The BJP has not lost since 1989 in all the three seats.

A dozen names including big ones such as former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Kailash Vijayvargiya are doing the rounds for the three seats but the BJP is still weighing options.

Dithering over the Bhopal seat, in particular, has caused acute embarrassment to the BJP. The Congress is poking fun at the rival over the delay.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath has wondered aloud whether the BJP should release advertisement for a suitable candidate to take on Digvijay Singh, who is already on the campaign trail for over two weeks.

Union minister Narendra Singh is being speculated as front runner for the Bhopal seat but he is said to be rooting for a safer Morena seat.

Tomar had won the 2014 election from Gwalior but this time around he wants to shift from the seat in view of the Congress’s spectacular show in the Assembly election last year.

The ruling party in Madhya Pradesh won in six out of the eight Assembly segments of the Gwalior parliamentary constituency. Former chief minister Shivraj Singh has expressed unwillingness to contest Lok Sabha election, though he might not be averse to contesting from Vidisha.

His wife Sadhna Singh too is eyeing Vidisha. But the party is looking for a suitable candidate who could be trusted to sooth the ruffled feeling of the Vidisha electorate due to alleged neglect of the constituency by it two-time high-profile MP Sushma Swaraj.

Posters of “missing MP’ had appeared in Vidisha last year, indicating the voters’ simmering anger.

Sumitra Mahajan’s rather unceremonious exit from the poll arena has posed a formidable challenge to find a suitable successor.

Indore mayor Malini Gaud is the front-runner for the seat though BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya is also said to be in the reckoning.

However, whoever is fielded from the seat will have to bear the brunt of the anger of Marathi voters who have not taken the denial of ticket to their leader Sumitra Mahajan kindly.

Marathi voters are a major factor in the capital of the erstwhile Holkar state of the Maratha rulers.