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Campaigning picks up

Staff Correspondent

BJP has upper hand in Vidisha; scene still hazy in Malehra

Photo: PTI

ELECTION TIME: Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia arrives in Bhopal on Tuesday to campaign for by-elections.

BHOPAL: With Diwali festivities coming to an end, campaigning for the Malehra Assembly and Vidisha parliamentary by-elections in Madhya Pradesh has picked up momentum. While Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was the star campaigner of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Malehra constituency, Union Minister of State Suresh Pachouri was on a whirlwind tour of Vidisha campaigning for the Congress candidate on Monday.

Mr. Chauhan's campaign trail in the Malehra constituency, which is considered the home turf of former State Chief Minister and president of the newly-formed Bharatiya Janshakti, Uma Bharti, took him to Jata Shankar, Kishan Garh, Satai, Bamouri, Bajna, Ghee Mawa, Kachauri, Bhujpura, Dagua, Surajpur, Sarna and Bade Malehra on Monday. Most of this area is dominated by Yadavs and the Lodhi community. After a night halt at Malehra, Mr. Chauhan returned here on Tuesday morning and left for Vidisha on a fast paced tour of the parliamentary constituency he has represented in the Lok Sabha five times in a row.

Mr. Singh addressed villagers at Bandra Vathi, Peeklone, Kasba Bagrod, Bawri, Gyaraspur, Sultanganj, Udaipura, Chargaon, Badi, Sirwara, Sultanpur, Binayka Thikri, Nandora, and Goharganj on Tuesday. He is again scheduled to address election meetings at Deo Khurji, Hasua, Gulabganj and Kurvai in the Vidisha parliamentary constituency on Wednesday.

While the Chief Minister has been building up the campaign for the ruling BJP candidates in Vidisha and Malehra on the development plank, Mr. Pachouri, who addressed a number of election meetings in the Vidisha constituency on Monday, lashed out against the BJP saying that it was least interested in development. Addressing an election rally in the Mandideep industrial town on Monday, Mr. Pachouri said that the BJP-led Government in Madhya Pradesh had failed to ensure that the benefits of the Centrally-funded schemes reach the people. He also took a dig at the BJP saying that Madhya Pradesh had seen three Chief Ministers in as many years.

Notwithstanding the points-counterpoints vis-à-vis development, the electoral prospects appear to be tilting heavily in favour of the BJP in Vidisha. This constituency has always remained a BJP stronghold and Mr. Chauhan's clean image further adds to the prospects of the BJP candidate, Rampal Singh.

In Malehra, the electoral scene is still hazy. The Uma Bharti factor continues to weigh heavy and none of the candidates in this constituency can afford to claim an edge over others even during the final phase of electioneering.

The Malehra by-election has become unique as the candidates of two major parties in the race— the BJP and Bharatiya Janshakti--were once members of the Congress. The BJP candidate, Kapurchand Ghuwara, is a one-time CPI MLA. He had recently joined the Congress but left it soon to embrace the BJP. Another prominent candidate contesting the Malehra seat is Rekha Yadav on Bharatiya Janshakti ticket. She was earlier with the Congress and is also related to a former Congress MLA. Another strong contender for this seat is the Congress candidate, Jagdish Shukla. The Samajwadi Party is also trying to build its base in this constituency by fielding the State party president Gauri Singh Yadav's son Surendra Singh Yadav as the party candidate.

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