Bhopal, October 3 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a significant constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, has unveiled its second list comprising 29 candidates for the upcoming year-end assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. This move by the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has cast doubt on the possibility of the INDIA bloc forming an alliance for the MP elections.
Thus far, AAP has announced candidates for 39 seats in the forthcoming assembly polls in the state, with its initial list of 10 candidates released last month. Notably, the second list includes Mamta Meena, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, who recently joined AAP after being denied a ticket by the BJP from Chachoura. AAP has fielded her as a candidate from the same constituency.
The list also features candidates for three Scheduled Tribe (ST) and four Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved seats. Additionally, two candidates from Bhopal city, Mohammed Saud (Bhopal North) and Raisa Begum Malik (Narela), have been declared.
From the Indore district, AAP has announced three candidates: Sunil Choudhary (Mhow), Anurag Yadav (Indore-1), and Piyush Joshi (Indore-4). Other notable candidates include Ramani Devi Jatav (Bhander), Rahul Kushwaha (Bhind), Satinder Bhadoriya (Mehgaon), Chahat Mani Pandey (Damoh), Chanda Kinnar (Malhara), and many more.
AAP, which currently holds power in Delhi and Punjab, has also fielded candidates in Sendhwa, Deotalab, Mangawan, Mauganj, Raigaon, Manpur, Devsar, Sidhi, Bijawar, Chhatarpur, Nagda-Khachrod, and Rewa.
While the ruling BJP in MP has announced 79 candidates in three separate lists, the Congress has not yet released any list of candidates. AAP and the Congress, both key members of the opposition INDIA bloc, have not made a final decision on whether they will contest the MP elections as alliance partners.
Following a meeting in Delhi last month, the INDIA bloc had initially announced a joint rally in Bhopal for the first week of October, but MP Congress chief Kamal Nath later confirmed its cancellation.
In the previous assembly elections in 2018, the Congress secured 114 seats in the 230-member Assembly, forming a coalition government. However, the Congress government led by Kamal Nath collapsed in March 2020, leading to the return of the BJP to power, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan assuming the role of Chief Minister for the fourth time.
