The Opposition Congress has given more than a ticket to members of four families for the November 7 Madhya Pradesh elections even as one family, one ticket formula was part of the sweeping internal reforms it pushed for in its Udaipur declaration in May 2022
Congress’s Nav Sankalp (new resolve) declaration adopted at the end of the three-day Chintan Shivir (brainstorming session) in Udaipur added a caveat to the formula saying those with five-year experience would be exempt from the one family, one ticket rule.
Three tickets each have been given to the families of Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh and opposition leader Govind Singh. Govind Singh will contest the polls along with his relative Chanda Rani Gaur and nephew Rahul Singh Bhadoriya.
Digvijaya Singh’s son, Jaivardhan Singh, has been fielded along with his brother, Laxman Singh, and his nephew Priyavrat Singh. Late former chief minister Arjun Singh’s son Ajay Singh and his brother-in-law Rajendra Singh have also been nominated. Sena Patel and his brother-in-law Mukesh Patel are also contesting the elections on Congress tickets.
Deepak Pintu Joshi, son of former Congress lawmaker Manish Joshi, former Union minister Kantilal Bhuria’s son, Vikrant Bhuria, Reena Baurasi Setiya, senior leader Prem Chand Guddu’s daughter, lawmaker Arif Aqueel’s son, Atif Aqueel, and late former minister Subhash Yadav’s son, Sachin Yadav, are also among the party’s nominees.
A Congress leader referred to the caveat in the Udaipur declaration and added those who have been given tickets such as Deepak Pintu, Rahul Bhadoriya, Reena Baurasi, and Vikrant Bhuria have worked for the party for years.
At least 57% of Congress candidates are aged above 50 and 43% are (99) below that age group. The Congress decided to allot 50% of the seats to candidates below 50 from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress’s state media in charge KK Mishra said the party considered only winnability. “Congress values every person, who is politically committed…”
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has stuck to one family, one ticket norm. It denied the ticket to lawmaker Akash Vijayvargiya after fielding his father Kailash Vijayvargiya.
The BJP nominated Gopal Bhargava, ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Narottam Mishra, and former lawmaker Jayant Malaiya while denying tickets to their children. It fielded Mausam Bisen after her father and former minister Gaurishankar Bisen announced he would serve the party without any post.
BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal said the BJP is a disciplined party and against nepotism. “We are not like Congress which changes rules.”
The Congress hopes to return to power in Madhya Pradesh, the largest of the five states accounting for roughly 15% of India’s population going to the polls next month. The elections are expected to set the tone for the 2024 national elections.
The Congress has set a target of winning 150 of the 230 seats in the state. It lost power to the BJP in March 2020 after the resignations of 22 legislators.
The BJP has since 2003 been in power (barring 18 months between 2018 and 2020) in Madhya Pradesh.
The BJP lost to the Congress in Himachal Pradesh in 2022 and Karnataka in May. The Congress is particularly buoyed by its performance in Karnataka, where it returned to power on the back of an ideological campaign centred on welfare, social justice, and anti-corruption.
