MP Congress flouts Rahul Gandhi’s no tickets to para-droppers formula

BHOPAL: With the last date of nomination filing scheduled for Friday, Congress party released two lists of candidates within a span of 17 hours.
The fourth list of 29 candidates came even as the country was immersed in Diwali celebrations on Wednesday late evening and fifth list of 17 candidates was released on Thursday afternoon. A lot of churning and brain-storming went behind these two lists consisting of seats where the party presently does not have its legislators.
These are seats the Congress has not only lost in 2013 but many are constituencies where it has been repeatedly faced defeat for three terms since 2003.The greatest surprise in the lists was inclusion of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s brother-in-law Sanjay Singh Masani as BJP candidate from Wadaseoni in Balaghat district and former PWD minister Sartaj Singh from Hoshangabad.
When AICC president Rahul Gandhi addressed a workers’ meet here in Bhopal in September, he announced that no para-dropper from other parties would get tickets. However, Congress seems to have flouted this rule by fielding BJP turn-coats Sanjay Sharma from Tendukhera in an earlier list and now Masani and Sartaj Singh.
A video went viral on Thursday showing Masani appealing to voters in the constituency with tears in his eyes. Sanjay Masani joined the Congress earlier this week and on Thursday he was seen asking for votes while crying profusely, "I am here with respect for the elderly and women. I have sacrificed my home and family because this society must survive. I no longer have any possession other than you."
Another shocker faced BJP on Thursday when former PWD minister Sartaj Singh, who was dropped from the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet on June 30, 2016 was announced Congress candidate from Hoshangabad seat against Speaker Sitasharan Sharma.
A single glance at the lists confirm that party has focused primarily on caste equations. In Damoh, represented by six-times legislator and finance minister Jayant Malaiyya, the Congress has fielded a district panchayat member Rahul Singh Lodhi considering the 35,000-odd Lodhi votes in the constituency.
Malaiyya -- a Jain, won the seat in 1990 by a margin of over 26,836 votes which over time has reduced to 4,953 votes in 2013. In 2008, Malaiyya escaped defeat by a paper-thin margin of just 171 votes. Congress is hoping that support from predominant Lodhi caste will cut-into BJP vote-bank. In Hatta scheduled caste reserved seat, Congress has given its candidature to a Harishankar Choudhary, son of former MLA Gopaldas Choudhary.
Harishankar lost the last assembly elections from the same seat against BJP’s Umadevi Khatik by a margin of 2,852 votes. State Congress leaders reasoned that the seat has a large Jatav caste vote and Harishankar Choudhary lost by a narrow margin. He remains still the Congress’ best bet in the seat going by caste equation and last election results.
Congress fielded a lesser known Pradyumn Singh Lodhi from Bada Malhara in Chhattarpur district. This was the seat of former chief minister Uma Bharti in 2003 and has a huge Lodhi voter population. Bharti also hails from this powerful agrarian OBC community. The BJP has changed the seat of minister of state Lalita Yadav from Chhattarpur where she is facing stiff anti-incumbency against her. Lalita Yadav belongs to the Gaur OBC community while Congress’ candidate though lesser known is a Lodhi.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Congress also changed candidates for three assembly seats. It changed candidature of Ashok Tyagi from Sironj seat and fielded Digvijaya Singh loyalist Massarrat Shahid who lost elections from the same seat in 2003 by a margin of more than 11,300 votes. Ashok Tyagi has been changed as local Congress workers complained that he is too close to the BJP-RSS combine. But Congress workers are not happy with Massarrat Shahid either. They claimed giving this former Mahila Congress president candidature means a “walk-over” to the BJP.
Party also removed Hamid Kazi from Burhanpur and nominated Ravindra Mahajan from there. Kazi has been convicted by the court in a criminal case, state Congress office said. Congress also replaced Rambhajan Saket with former minister of the Digvijaya Singh government Bansmani Verma from Devsar assembly seat.