At least two defectors, three sitting MLAs and a few former ministers will try their luck in this year's Lok Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh.
The two defectors who are in the race are -- Rao Uday Pratap Singh and retired IAS officer Bhagirath Prasad -- both of whom left the Congress to join the BJP and are contesting the parliamentary polls on its ticket.
While Rao Uday Pratap Singh left the Congress a little before the Assembly elections last year in November, Prasad deserted the party after it gave him ticket from Bhind seat. Uday had won on a Congress ticket from the Hoshangabad constituency in 2009 and this time he is contesting from there albeit on a BJP ticket.
Prasad had contested and lost from Bhind in 2009 to Ashok Argal of BJP who is upset that a ticket has been denied to him this time to accommodate a defector from the Congress. Ashok said it would be very tough for him to canvas and seek votes for Prasad as he was his opponent in 2009 LS polls. Prasad has been described as an opportunist by Congress.
Meanwhile, the Congress has fielded at least three sitting MLAs in the Lok Sabha polls to boost its prospects. These MLAs are led by Arjun Singh's second son, Ajay, who is contesting a parliamentary poll for the first time in his career from the Satna constituency in the Vindhya region of Madhya Pradesh.
Ajay was elected to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly for the first time in 1985 after his father Arjun Singh was sent to Punjab as Governor. He had initially wanted to contest from Sidhi but the party gave him the ticket for Satna constituency, from where his BJP opponent is Ganesh Singh who had won from there both in 2004 and 2009. Another Congress MLA in the race is former Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker, Sriniwas Tiwari's son, Sunderlal Tiwari who is contesting from the Rewa constituency also in the Vindhya region of Madhya Pradesh.
Sunderlal had been elected from Rewa once in the past and he is trying his luck again this time. The third Congress MLA in the fray is Govind Singh who had won the Assembly elections from the Lahar constituency in the Bhind district last year. This time he is contesting from the Morena district.
His main BJP opponent is former minister Anoop Mishra, nephew of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Other ex-minister in the poll ring is Nagendra Singh who is contesting from Khajuraho after losing Assembly polls.
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