Nadda accuses BJD of importing outsider for Odisha’s leadership
People have to remain cautious as BJD thinks there are no leaders in Odisha. The manner in which outsiders are being patronized by Naveen Patnaik, is a matter of grave concern, he said.
The BJP on Thursday released its first list of 21 candidates for Chhattisgarh and 39 for Madhya Pradesh for the Assembly polls later this year even before the announcement of the poll scheduled by the Election Commission of India.
This is clearly a departure from the party since the saffron party has invariably announced its candidates a few days before the polls.
The BJP currently rules Madhya Pradesh while the Congress is in power in Chhattisgarh. The announcement of the BJP list for the two states came a day after the BJP Central Election Committee meeting in New Delhi, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President J P Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders.
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Along with Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram are also scheduled to go to the polls this year in what is expected to be a dress rehearsal for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Sources said the BJP leadership’s decision to announce the names of party candidates well in advance was aimed at giving them sufficient time to campaign and also overcome dissidence, if any. Smarting under the defeat in the Assembly elections in Karnataka earlier this year, the saffron party is leaving no stone unturned to retain power in Madhya Pradesh and dislodge Congress from power in Chhattisgarh.
In both Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the saffron party has given tickets to five women each. Among the candidates announced for Madhya Pradesh are Sarla Vijendra Rawat, Lal Singh Arya, Preetam Lodhi, Priyanka Meena, Lalita Yadav, Lakhan Patel, Bhanu Bhuriya and Satish Malviya.
The party’s Chhattisgarh’s list includes the names of Bhulan Singh Maravi, Laxmi Rajawde, Shakuntala Singh Porthe, Indrakumar Sahu, and Geeta Ghasi Sahu.
In the 2018 Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP had won 109 seats against 114 of the Congress in the 230-member Assembly. The Congress had formed a government in the state under the leadership of Kamal Nath. However, he lost power after 15 months following a split in the Congress, bringing Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the BJP back at the helm.
In Chhattisgarh, the BJP had won only 15 of the 90 seats in the Assembly against 68 of the Congress which formed the government under the leadership of Bhupesh Baghel.
Both Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are again expected to witness a straight contest between the BJP and the Congress.
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