Congress released the second list of 85 candidates for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election late on Thursday night. Meanwhile, the party has declared all but one candidate 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.
Candidates given tickets in second list
Congress gave ticket to Atif Akil, son of sitting MLA Arif Akil, from Bhopal North. Ravindra Singh Tomar got a ticket against Narendra Singh Tomar from Dimani while Abhay Mishra has been fielded from Simaria.
Congress also gave a ticket to Girja Shankar from Hoshangabad, who switched from BJP. Kamlesh Shah from Amarwada, Sohan Valmiki from Parasia and Nilesh Uike from Pandhurna have also been named in the second list of candidates.
Earlier, they 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.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections
The election to the 230-member assembly in Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to be held on November 17, while counting of votes will take place on December 3.
In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress had won 114 seats, while the BJP got 109. However, the Congress government fell after many MLAs under the leadership of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who later became a Union minister, joined the BJP. The BJP returned to power in March 2020 with Shivraj Singh Chouhan as chief minister for a fresh term. The BJP's current strength in the assembly is 127.
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