Divided Madhya Pradesh Congress puts up united face at filing of nomination for assembly bypolls

BHOPAL: Faction-ridden Madhya Pradesh Congress put up a united show on Wednesday when party candidates filed their nomination papers for February 24 assembly bypolls for Mungaoli and Kolaras seats.
Brajendra Singh Yadav filed his papers for Mungaoli seat in Ashoknagar district and Mahendra Singh Yadav for Kolaras constituency in Shivpuri district.
Senior leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Congress chief whip in Lok Sabha, Kamal Nath, MP from Chhindwara, and Suresh Pachouri, former Union minister, represent various factions in the state party unit.
Leaders loyal to Scindia, Nath, and Pachouri were seen along with both the candidates today.
Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh could not make it to the Congress' show of strength as he is away for the Narmada river "parikrama".
However, some loyalists of the Raghogarh royal were spotted in the rallies taken out at Mungaoli and Kolaras.
Besides Scindia, Nath, and Pachouri, Kantilal Bhuria also participated in the rallies.
Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh and AICC general secretary in charge for Madhya Pradesh Deepak Babaria were also present.
These factions had earlier come together ahead of the last assembly polls but failed to defeat the BJP.
Madhya Pradesh is going to polls later this year.
The BJP picked Bai Sahab Yadav and Devendra Jain to contest Mungaoli and Kolaras seats, respectively, but their candidature is awaiting final approval from the BJP parliamentary board, a senior leader said today.
Filing of the nominations closes on February 6 while February 9 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature. The counting of votes will take place on February 28.
The bypolls were necessitated due to demise of Congress MLAs Mahendra Singh Kalukheda (Mungaoli) and Ram Singh Yadav (Kolaras).
The Congress and the BJP have already started campaigning for the bypolls, the outcome of which would be keenly watched ahead of assembly polls slated at the year-end.
While the Congress is aiming to retain both the seats, the saffron party is trying hard to wrest them.
Both the assembly segments fall under Guna Lok Sabha constituency, the pocket-borough of Scindia.
Scindia is being projected as the chief ministerial face by a section in the Congress, which has been out of power since 2003.
Aware of the high stakes involved, the 47-year-old royal has been extensively touring the two seats to ward off the saffron challenge.
The BJP has wheeled out state Cabinet ministers at the hustings.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently announced a slew of measures for the people of the region.
These included financial assistance for tackling malnutrition among the members of the Saharia tribe which forms a major chunk of voters in Kolaras and Mungaoli.