Congress released its second list of candidates for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections on Thursday night, featuring 88 names. Notably, three previously announced candidates were changed in this list. With this release, Congress has now unveiled candidates for all but one of the 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh, with voting scheduled for November 17.

Earlier on Sunday, Congress had unveiled its first list of 144 candidates in Madhya Pradesh. A significant change occurred in the Datia assembly constituency, where Awadhesh Nayak was initially the candidate. However, Rajendra Bharti has been fielded in his place and will compete against BJP candidate and Home Minister Narottam Mishra. Bharti, a former MLA, has previously defeated Narottam Mishra but narrowly lost the last election.

Nayak’s ticket faced opposition in Datia, leading to the change in candidates due to concerns among party workers and leaders.

Ravinder Singh Tomar has been nominated by Congress for the Dimani assembly seat, where he will face Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Sunil Sharma has been named the Congress candidate for the Gwalior Assembly seat, traditionally seen as the stronghold of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. He previously contested the by-election against sitting MLA and Minister Pradyuman Singh Tomar, who later joined BJP with Scindia after the political upheaval in 2020.

Congress altered candidates on three seats, which include Datia, Gotegaon, and Pichor. Shailendra Singh’s ticket from Pichor has been changed to Arvind Singh Lodhi. Additionally, former Assembly Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati had his ticket cancelled for Gotegaon, but it has now been reinstated.

Notably, the three names previously announced by Nakul Nath for Chhindwara have all secured their tickets. Sohan Valmiki from Parasia, Kamlesh Shah from Amarwada, and Nilesh Uike from Pandhurna are the confirmed candidates.

In the 2018 assembly elections, Congress emerged victorious with 114 seats, while the BJP secured 109 seats. However, the Congress government later collapsed after several MLAs joined BJP under the leadership of Jyotiraditya Scindia. In March 2020, the BJP returned to power, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan assumed the role of Chief Minister. BJP’s current strength in the assembly stands at 127 seats.

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