With second list of 88 candidates, Congress announces all but one nominees for MP polls
Bhopal (PTI): The Congress has announced its second list of 88 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls.
With this list issued late Thursday night, the party has declared all but one candidates for elections to the 230-member assembly scheduled for November 17.
The Congress has not yet declared its candidate from Amla seat in Betul district from where a woman deputy collector Nisha Bangre is seeking a ticket but the ruling BJP government has not yet accepted her resignation from the services and the matter at present is pending in the court, the party sources said.
Earlier the party had declared candidates for 144 seats but changed candidature in three seats while issuing the second list. Therefore, the total number of candidates announced in the first list stands at 141, a Congress leader said.
After intense tussle in the party that led to the "tearing of clothes" controversy, the Congress has replaced tickets of Datia, Gotegaon and Pichhore seats.
A video of Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath where he is asking party men to "tear clothes" of his colleague Digvijaya Singh over denial of ticket to a leader from Shivpuri fuelled talks of a rift in the party over selection of nominees even as the two former chief ministers sought to make light of the episode and on Tuesday put up a united face ahead of the assembly polls.
Nath in a message on X in Hindi on Thursday said the party has issued the second list comprising 88 candidates and extended his best wishes to all of them.
"You are not just standing in the assembly polls to become an MLA, but to change the future of the state," he added.
The party has replaced Avdhesh Nayak with senior Congress leader Rajendra Bharti in Datia from where BJP candidate and the state home minister Narottam Mishra is contesting for the fourth time. Mishra won from Datia in 2008, 2013 and 2018 assembly elections.
The party also changed the ticket from Gotegaon (SC) seat from where it replaced Shekhar Choudhary with the sitting MLA and former Assembly Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati.
The Congress leadership also replaced Shailendra Singh with Arvind Singh Lodhi from Pichhore seat in Shivpuri district in view of the protest by the party workers.
The party has fielded former minister and sitting MLA PC Sharma from Bhopal South West constituency.
The Congress has given ticket to sitting MLA Arif Aqeel's son, Atif Aqeel from Bhopal North, despite opposition by Arif's younger brother Aamir Aqeel.
The BJP has fielded former Bhopal Mayor Alok Sharma from there.
Among the prominent leaders who got the ticket for contesting assembly polls include former minister Choudhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi from Bhind, Subhash Sojatia from Garoth and Rajkumar Patel from Bhojpur seats.
The party also fielded Ravinder Singh Tomar from the Dimni assembly seat and he will contest against Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
From the Gwalior assembly seat, considered the bastion of Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Congress has fielded Sunil Sharma, who had unsuccessfully contested in a bypoll against sitting MLA and minister Pradhuman Singh Tomar, a known Scindia loyalist.
Besides, the party has fielded BJP-turned-Congress leaders Deepak Joshi from Khategaon and Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat from Badnawar seats for the assembly polls.
The single-phase polling for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly will be held on November 17 and counting of votes will take place on December 3, along with other poll-bound states.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
