The BJP had sprung a surprise when it released its second list of candidates nearly two months before the November 17 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP had sent three Union Ministers, four MPs, and one party national general secretary to contest the State polls.
Madhya Pradesh Election Results 2023 Updates
The move, according to various party insiders, was aimed at diluting the anti-incumbency and “fatigue” factor and re-energise the cadre in the strongholds of these leaders.
With the polls results out on Sunday, the move has largely worked for the saffron party with two Union Ministers, three MPs and the general secretary having won from their seats.
However, in a major setback, Union Minister and Mandla MP Faggan Singh Kulaste, a tribal leader, lost to the Congress’s Chainsingh Warkade by 9,723 votes from Niwas - ST seat in Mandla district. Mr. Kulaste had been sent to contest from the seat in place of his brother Rampyare Kulaste who had lost the seat in 2018.
Triangular contest
Sitting MP from Satna since 2004, Ganesh Singh also lost from the Satna Assembly seat against the Congress’s Siddharth Kushwaha by a margin of 4,041 votes. The seat was stuck in a triangular contest after the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) fielded Shiva Ratnakar Chaturbedi from the seat which has a significant Brahmin population. Mr. Chaturbedi polled 33,567 votes.
Union Agriculture Minister and BJP’s election management committee chief for the Madhya Pradesh polls, Narendra Singh Tomar, won from Chambal belt’s Dimani seat by 24,461 votes. Mr. Tomar was given a fight by BSP’s Balveer Singh Dandotiya who remained runner-up with 54,676 votes, while sitting MLA and Congress candidate Ravindra Singh Tomar could only manage 24,006 votes.
The Minister had to contest a tough battle from the seat with several people complaining of disconnect from his side. He was also marred with a controversy just days before the polling after some video clips allegedly showing his son discussing “transactions worth thousands of crores of rupees with a middleman”. Mr. Tomar had denied the allegations following scathing attacks from the Congress.
Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel comfortably won from Narsingpur seat defeating the Congress’s Lakhan Singh Patel by 31,310 votes. Mr. Patel’s brother Jalam Singh Patel had won the seat in 2018 but was not fielded this time around. Mr. Prahlad Patel had also actively campaigned for the party in the Mahakoshal region, a Congress stronghold. The BJP has made significant gains in the region by winning 21 seats as compared to 13 in 2018.
BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya had been fielded from Indore-1 seat while his son and incumbent MLA from Indore-3 Akash Vijayvargiya had been denied a ticket. Mr. Vijayvargiya, who had publicly said initially that he had not wished to contest the State polls, won from the seat by 57,939 votes against the Congress’s Sanjay Shukla.
BJP MPs Riti Pathak, Rakesh Singh and Uday Pratap Singh also won from Sidhi, Jabalpur-Paschim and Gadarwara respectively.
Other heavyweights
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan won from his traditional Budhni seat defeating the Congress candidate by 1,04,974 votes. The Congress had fielded Vikram Mastal, an actor who had played the role of Lord Hanuman in 2008 Ramayan TV serial.
State Congress president Kamal Nath also won from his pocket-borough Chhindwara of Chhindwara district defeating BJP’s Vivek Bunty Sahu by 36,594 votes. Mr. Sahu, however, managed to get 95,708 votes.
Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh’s son, Jaivardhan Singh, won from his home turf Raghogarh defeating the BJP candidate Heerendra Singh Bunty by a narrow margin of 4,505 votes.
Various senior leaders from the two main parties, however, failed to save their seats as the results gave a landslide victory to the BJP.
The most prominent name is of State Home Minister Narottam Mishra who lost from his Datia seat by 7,742 votes against the Congress’s Rajendra Bharti, who had joined hands with Awadhesh Nayak after he switched over from the BJP to oust Mr. Mishra. Mr. Mishra has been the MLA from the seat since 2008.
Also read | PM Modi, party organisation, women, Dalits and tribals charge the BJP juggernaut
Former State Minister in the 15-month Kamal Nath government and sitting MLA from Rau, Jitu Patwari lost the seat to the BJP’s Madhu Verma by 35,522 votes.
Another former State Minister and senior Congress leader Kamleshwar Patel also faced a defeat against the BJP’s Vishwamitra Pathak by 16,478 votes.
Leader of the Opposition in the current Assembly and Congress veteran Dr. Govind Singh lost his Lahore seat for the first time since 1990. The BJP’s Ambrish Sharma won the seat in the Gwalior-Chambal region by a margin of 12,397 votes.
