Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections: Congress released its initial list

The Congress has unveiled its initial list of 144 candidates in Madhya Pradesh, supporting 69 current MLAs and former Chief Minister Kamal Nath. TV actor Vikram Mastal, who played Hanuman in the Ramayana, got nominated to face Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Budhni. The candidates split into six spiritual minority communities: 22 from the Scheduled Castes (SC), 30 from the Scheduled Tribes (STs), and 39 from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Nineteen women received tickets from the party, and there are a lot of young candidates in the running, with 65 of them being under 50. Congress spokesperson Piyush Babele compared the Bharatiya Janata Party’s initial list with the Congress’s first list, stating that the Congress finalized the list as the best possible counter to the BJP.

Congress released its first list for the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections

For the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election, 69 sitting MLAs of Congress got nominated again, and the TV actor who appeared as Hanuman contested against CM Shivraj.

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Congress released its first list of 144 candidates

On Sunday, the Congress unveiled its initial list of 144 candidates in Madhya Pradesh, reiterating its support for 69 currently serving MLAs and former Chief Minister and state Congress president Kamal Nath.

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Kamal Nath will run from Chhindwara

Nath will run from his stronghold of Chhindwara, while Dr. Govind Singh, a seven-time MLA and former leader of the opposition, will run from Lahar. Jaivardhan Singh, the son of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, got nominated from Raghogarh, and Jitu Patwari, a former cabinet minister, will run from Rau.

A TV actor, Vikram Mastal, will face CM Shivraj

Vikram Mastal, a television actor, got the nod from the Congress as the candidate to face Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Budhni. The list, which went public in the spiritual significance of the first day of Sharad Navaratri, came as a surprise. Mastal, who played Hanuman in the 2008 Ramayan remake, got nominated in light of the party’s transition to soft Hindutva politics, and Kamal Nath led the party down this road by portraying himself as a devout follower of Hanuman.

The division of candidates

The candidates split into six spiritual minority communities: 22 from the Scheduled Castes (SC), 30 from the Scheduled Tribes (STs), and 39 from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Nineteen women received tickets from the party, and there are a lot of young candidates in the running, with 65 of them being under 50.

Congress spokesperson Piyush Babele’s statement

Speaking on behalf of the party, Congress spokesperson Piyush Babele said, “If we compare the Bharatiya Janata Party’s initial list with the Congress’s first list, the BJP revealed 39 names in its preliminary list, and they also declared tickets for contested seats. Despite being in power for 18 years, the BJP’s first list made it obvious it is in a defensive mode regarding the assembly elections.”

According to a leader in Congress, “The list of candidates is founded on comprehensive polls and only concluded after contacting each level of the party leadership. We finalized this list of candidates as the best possible counter to the BJP.”