Lok Sabha polls: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh to contest from Bhopal

Madhya Pradesh’s former chief minister and veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh will contest the Lok Sabha election from Bhopal, a high-profile seat the Congress has not won in the past three decades. Making this announcement on Saturday, Chief Minister Kamal Nath said, “There were three options before him — Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur. He asked the party to decide. The central election committee has chosen Bhopal for him, and I am happy with the choice.’’

Asked whether Singh is happy with the decision, Nath said, “You should ask this question to him.” Later in the day, Singh said his first choice was Rajgarh, but he accepted the party’s decision. “Rajgarh was naturally my priority as it is my home. But I am ready to contest from any place as decided by my party and the Congress president.”

The announcement comes days after Singh said Congress President Rahul Gandhi will take the decision on his candidature.

Political analyst L S Hardenia believes Bhopal is a tough seat for Singh. “Most of the voters are urban government employees, who are very unhappy... Also, during his regime, 27,000 daily wage workers were sacked in a day.”

With inputs from PTI