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BJP, Congress tighten belts for by-elections

BHOPAL: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress—the two main rival parties in Madhya Pradesh, are presently grappling with the task of selecting the party candidates for the Sanver Assembly by-elections.

For the Khargone Parliamentary by-election, there are firm indications that the BJP has made up its mind to once again field the former M.P. Krishna Murari Moghe. The announcement of his candidature remains a mere formality according to BJP insiders. The Khargone seat fell vacant in July this year after the then President APJ Abdul Kalam disqualified Mr. Moghe as member of Lok Sabha on the Office of Profit issue.

Two names are prominently doing the rounds in Congress circles for being nominated as a candidate for the Khargone parliamentary constituency. The Congress front-runners are the State party president Subhash Yadav and his son Arun Yadav.

By elections are being held for the Sanver Assembly constituency due to the sudden demise of the State Minister Prakash Sonkar. In the upcoming by elections, the stakes are too high for the BJP since it faces the task of retaining both the Khargone and Sanver seats. The ruling party faces a major challenge and cannot hope to take these elections lightly after suffering defeat in the just concluded Lanji Assembly by election, where its candidate lost to a Samajwadi Party candidate, who had contested the election as an under-trial from jail.

Till recently there were speculations about the possibility of the Janshakti Party leader Uma Bharti contesting the Khargone by election. But this possibility is now being ruled out by Uma Bharti loyalists.

They point out that she would not be contesting this election on health grounds and also due to the Gujarat Assembly election. The Polling for Khargone and Sanver would be held on December 12.

The filing of nominations would begin on November 16 and close on November 23. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is November 28 and the counting of votes will be on December 15.

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BJP, Congress tighten belts for by-elections

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