Bhopal: The Congress on Saturday announced candidates for three remaining Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh.
With the announcement of three candidates, the Congress has fielded as many as 28 candidates for a total 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, while it gave one seat – Khajuraho to INDIA bloc partner SP. Surprisingly, SP’s candidate Meera Yadav’s nomination was canceled on Friday.
The Congress has fielded former MLA Praveen Pathak against BJP’s Bharat Singh Kushwaha from Gwalior. Pathak had been elected on a Congress ticket from Gwalior South assembly seat in 2018 but faced defeat in 2023.
Ex-legislator Satyapal Singh Sikarwar has been fielded from Morena and will face off with BJP’s Shivmangal Singh Tomar. Sikarwar was elected as MLA from the Sumawali assembly seat in 2013 on a BJP ticket.
His father had also won the same assembly seat in 2003. Sikarwar was expelled from the BJP in 2020 for anti-party activities, following which he joined the Congress.
Morena Lok Sabha seat was won by BJP’s Narendra Singh Tomar in 2019, but he was elected as an MLA last year and later made the speaker of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly after the BJP registered a resounding victory in November last year.
Congress has fielded Narendra Patel from Khandwa.
Former minister Arjun Yadav’s name was doing rounds as a candidate from Khandwa until the last minute. Earlier, Yadav has also announced that he will be ready to contest the election against Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, if the party decides; however, he was denied a Lok Sabha ticket.
–IANS