BJP has fielded Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna Lok Sabha seat.
New Delhi:
Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Guna in Madhya Pradesh, a seat he lost to the BJP in the 2019 elections. Mr Scindia has deep ties to the region and his 2019 defeat was seen as a marked shift from Guna’s historical loyalty to Scindia.
The Guna Lok Sabha seat has traditionally been represented by Scindia since 1957. In 2001, after the death of his father and former Union Minister Madhavrao Scindia in a plane crash, Jyotiraditya Scindia entered politics. Next year he contested elections from Guna Lok Sabha seat.
In 2019, he was defeated by BJP’s KP Yadav.
The political scenario in Madhya Pradesh changed soon after Mr Scindia’s defeat as the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government fell in 2020 due to a coup led by him.
Mr Scindia – who was once close to the Gandhi family – resigned from the Congress in March 2020 after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi and soon after his exit, 21 Congress MLAs loyal to him also resigned.
He got a Rajya Sabha seat and a berth in the Union Cabinet soon after his entry into the BJP, co-founded by his grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia. His two aunts – Vasundhara Raje and Yashodhara Raje – are also in BJP.
In a much-awaited announcement, the BJP released the first list of 195 candidates this evening. The list includes PM Modi from his constituency Varanasi and 34 ministers from the Center and states.
The party has finalized 24 names from Madhya Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections. Senior BJP leader Shivraj Chauhan, who was replaced by Mohan Yadav as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister by the party leadership after the assembly elections last year, has been fielded from Vidisha constituency. This is being seen as a victory for Mr Chouhan, sources say he was offered the Bhopal seat which he rejected and expressed his desire to contest from Vidisha.
This list comes a few days after the meeting of BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) held on Thursday night.
In the last general elections, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a total of 303 seats, leaving the Congress behind on 52 seats.
