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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Cong leader Prithviraj Chavan defiant after facing verbal missiles on Op Sindoor remarks
Mumbai (PTI): Despite facing criticism, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday stood by his controversial comments that India faced a "total defeat" in aerial fight with Pakistan on the first day of Operation Sindoor on May 7.
The former Union minister refused to apologise for his comments on the Indian military operation against terror hubs in Pakistan and PoK in aftermath of massacre of tourists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in April.
Talking to reporters in Pune on Tuesday, Chavan claimed India faced a "total defeat in the aerial fight (with Pakistan) on May 7 which lasted for half-an-hour".
"One may believe this or not. After that the Indian Air Force got grounded and not a single aircraft took flight that day.... be it Gwalior, Bhatinda or Sirsa, there was a possibility of aircraft being shot down, so our complete Air Force was grounded," the former Maharashtra chief minister had said.
Hitting out at Chavan, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accused the Congress of speaking the language of Pakistan. He said questioning the military action was akin to demoralising the morale of armed forces.
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"The criticism does not stem from the love of the nation, but love for Pakistan," said the chief leader of the Shiv Sena, a key constituent of the BJP-led NDA.
Chavan, however, remained defiant.
"There is no question of apologising. The Constitution has given me the right to ask questions," the Congress veteran asserted.
Chavan also questioned the need of having a 12-lakh strong Army when future wars will be about aerial combats and missiles. "During Operation Sindoor we saw that there was no movement of the Army even for a kilometre," he had said.
BJP Lok Sabha MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra said Chavan's remarks are loaded with sedition.
"He (Chavan) has refused to apologise. The Indian armed forces struck 100 kms inside the Pakistan territory and destroyed 11 air strips (of the Pakistani Air Force). He made remarks that the Indian Army did not even move an inch (during the military operation). This is nothing but a statement full of sedition, a statement of a traitor," Patra said, lashing out at the Congress leader.
The BJP spokesperson maintained the Congress appears to be standing with Chavan and alleged the Opposition party is playing into foreign hands.
Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should apologise for it, he added.
Union minister Giriraj Singh of the BJP insisted it was not right to devalue the valour of Indian armed forces.
Samajwadi Party MP Virendra Singh suggested that wherever armed forces are concerned, every Indian should be mindful of statements they make and ensure their comments do not demoralise the military.
Operation Sindoor was a result of "mistakes of politicians", he claimed.
TDP MP Krishna Devraylu said after the poll defeat in Bihar, the Congress is rattled and their leaders have been talking absurdly.
"Chavan's remarks are a prime example of this. This kind of disrespect to our armed forces is not necessary. If the Congress is angry with the NDA, it should show it in a different way and not drag armed forces into it," Devraylu opined.
AAP MP Ashok Mittal said such statements should not be made by any senior politician, especially by someone who has been a former chief minister.
The Indian armed forces registered a strong victory and destroyed terror launchpads in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, Mittal added.
