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Congress fields ex-Minister against Chouhan

Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL: The battle lines have been drawn for the April 24 by-election for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly from Buhni with the Congress party's formal announcement on Monday that former State Minister Rajkumar Patel would be the party candidate against the State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who would be contenting as the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.

Mr. Chauhan is scheduled to leave for Sehore in a procession on Tuesday to file his nomination. Mr. Patel had won the Budhni seat in 1993 but was defeated when he tried to regain this seat in the 2003 elections.

Since 1980, the Congress has won the Budhni seat four times -- in 1980, 1985, 1993 and 1998 -- while the BJP has won it twice -- in 1990 and 2003.

The seat was vacated by BJP MLA Rajendra Singh on February 14 to pave the way for Mr. Chauhan's election to Vidhan Sabha. Mr. Chauhan, who was sworn in as Chief Minister on November 29, 2005, is required under the Constitution to get elected to the State legislature within six months of assuming office. Mr. Chauhan presently represents the Vidisha constituency in Parliament and the Budhni Assembly segment falls within his parliamentary constituency. Budhni is Mr. Chauhan's home turf and he had won this Assembly seat in 1990. In the face of claims and counter-claims for a party ticket, Mr. Sami told media persons before leaving for Delhi on Sunday evening that party president Sonia Gandhi would take the final decision.

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Congress fields ex-Minister against Chouhan

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