Women harvesting standing wheat crops in a plot in Pandhurna district were taken by surprise when a high-profile visitor met them on Wednesday. First-time sitting Congress MP Nakul Nath’s wife Priya Nath joined them in cutting the wheat crop with a sickle and clicked pictures with them. It happened just hours after the Congress named Nakul as its candidate from Kamal Nath’s family bastion Chhindwara LS seat again. In a rerun of the 2019 polls, the BJP fielded its Chhindwara district chief Vivek Bunty Sahu again. Sahu had put up a fight against Nath in LS and assembly polls, losing by 35,000-plus and 36,000-plus votes respectively.
Balaghat seat may see all-women candidates
The Maoist affected Balaghat seat might witness a battle between two women contenders in the coming LS polls. While the BJP has fielded new face Bharti Pardhi, ex-Deputy Speaker of Vidhan Sabha Hina Kavre is reportedly the front-runner for the Congress ticket, which could be finalised in the next two days. Kaware had lost the recent assembly polls from Lanji seat which she won in 2013 and 2018. She had also contested from the Balaghat seat in 2014 LS polls as Congress candidate, but lost by 96,000-plus votes to BJP’s Bodh Singh Bhagat, who is now in Congress. Since 1971, the seat hasn’t been won by a woman.
Ex-LoP meet with former minister triggers buzz
With Congress leaders daily joining the BJP in MP, the recent meeting between ex-leader of opposition Dr Govind Singh and former home minister Narottam Mishra has fuelled speculations about the seven-time former Congress MLA also planning a switch to the BJP. Both the Congress and BJP veterans, Singh and Mishra, had suffered shock defeat in recent assembly polls. While Mishra is the head of state BJP’s new joining committee, the ex-LoP Singh hasn’t got any new responsibility from the Congress till now. Coming to know about the buzz of Singh’s possible switch to the BJP, state Congress chief Jitu Patwari swung into action and met with the party veteran.
Anuraag singh
Our correspondent in Madhya Pradesh
singhanuraag.jaurno@gmail.com