With the mandate of the people of Madhya Pradesh clearly going with the BJP and rejecting the Congress’ appeal for a change in the State, the Congress is going to introspect various of its moves taken in the run-up to the Assembly polls, which failed to boost its chances.
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The party also had to deal with severe protests over its candidate selection, forcing it to change its earlier announced candidates in seven seats. However, six out of the seven new candidates lost the polls or are currently trailing.
In three seats, the dropped candidates turned rebel and hampered the party’s prospects.
The Congress had in its first list fielded Shailendra Singh but later named Arvind Singh Lodhi from Pichhore, considering the sizeable voting population from the Lodhi community in the constituency.
Six-time and the current MLA from Pichhore, K. P. Singh alias Kakka Joo, was sent to contest from the neighbouring Shivpuri seat as the party leaders had speculated that the BJP might field Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia from Shivpuri.
‘Tear clothes’ row
It was Mr. K. P. Singh’s candidature from Shivpuri which had led to the “tear clothes” controversy in the Congress after a video of party leader Kamal Nath asking some party workers to “tear Digvijaya Singh and [his son] Jaivardhan Singh’s clothes” had gone viral. Mr. Nath was addressing a group of disgruntled party workers who were upset over the denial of ticket to Virendra Raghuvanshi, who had switched over from the BJP about three months before the polls.
The controversy had given rise to speculations regarding differences over ticket distribution within the Congress.
The Congress lost both the seats with the BJP’s Pritam Singh Lodhi and Devendra Kumar Jain winning from Pichhore and Shivpuri by by 21,882 votes and 43,030 votes, respectively.
Changing its candidate in the Mahakoshal region’s Gotegaon seat also proved disastrous for the Congress. The party had first fielded former MLA Shekhar Choudhary from the seat but later dropped him for the sitting MLA and former Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati. Mr. Choudhary then turned a rebel and entered the fray as an independent.
Mahendra Nagesh, a fresh face fielded by the BJP, won by 47788 votes, with Mr. Prajapati coming second and Mr. Choudhary in the third position.
The move also appears to have cost the Congress in Gwalior-Chambal region’s Sumawali seat where it fielded Ajab Singh Kushwah after replacing Kuldeep Singh Sikarwar who then contested on a BSP ticket.
The BJP’s Aidal Singh Kansana beat Mr. Kushwah by 16008 votes. Mr. Sikarwar, whose teary-eyed videos had made rounds after the Congress dropped him, is on number 2 and has secured 56500 votes. The seat has significant voters from the Gurjar, Kushwah and Thakur communities.
In Pipariya too, Congress candidate Veerendra Belwanshi lost to the BJP’s sitting MLA Thakurdas Nagwanshi by 30,523 votes. Mr. Belwanshi had been fielded in place of Gurucharan Khare following protests by party workers.
In Ujjain district’s Badnagar seat too, Rajendra Singh Solanki turned rebel and cost the Congress by contesting as an independent. Even though Mr. Solanki remained on number 3, he secured 31,005 votes while the new Congress candidate Murli Morwal lost to BJP’s Jitendra Pandya by 36,693 votes.
Mr. Solanki had been replaced as the official party candidate following protests by Congress workers.
In Ratlam district’s Jaora too, Congress candidate Virendra Singh Solanki, who had been fielded in place of Himmat Shrimal, lost to BJP’s sitting MLA Rajendra Pandey by more than 26,000 votes.
Karni Sena Parivar’s Jeevan Singh Sherpur, who was seeking a ticket from the Congress, remained at number 3 with over 40,700 votes.
In the heavyweight seat of Datia, Congress candidate Rajendra Bharti defeated BJP candidate and State Home Minister Narottam Mishra by 7,742 votes.
Mr. Bharti had been fielded after replacing Awadhesh Nayak, who had recently joined the party from the BJP. Even though Mr. Bharti had earlier led protests against Mr. Nayak’s candidature, the duo later came together and campaigned in the constituency to oust the three-term MLA Mr. Mishra.
Speaking to The Hindu during campaigning, the duo had said that their priority was to “free” Datia from Mr. Mishra.
