Arjun Singh's son wants to fulfil father's dreams for Satna

Though his late father was famously called the 'Thakur from Satna' for his long connection with this cement city, Arjun Singh's son Ajay has a daunting task of breaking this BJP stronghold which has not sent a Congress MP to Parliament for the past two decades.
Ajay Singh, the 58-year-old leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, has many odds against him to win this seat, where his father had to taste defeat in 1996 from a BSP candidate. Satna votes on Thursday.
Ajay has been specially chosen to make his debut in Parliamentary poll from the seat which his father and senior Congress leader Arjun Singh represented in 1991.

The six-time MLA from Churhat is also fighting the tag of being an "outsider" to the area as he spent his major political career in the neighbouring Sidhi district.
"I have taken this challenge (of fighting polls from Satna) very seriously. The party wanted me to take this challenge and I am a disciplined soldier. I am sure I will get the benefit of my father's legacy in Satna and also of my regular connect with the people of this place," Ajay told PTI amid his hectic schedule as he tours the seven Assembly seats of this large district.
Ajay says his maternal connections in the district are well known and he has been meeting people in this area quite frequently which does not make him an "outsider" to the area as alleged by the Opposition.

The fact that Arjun Singh lost from the seat in 1996 and BJP's MP Ganesh Singh getting two consecutive terms for as also the thumping victory of BJP in the recently concluded Assembly polls in the state is weighing on the mind of this "devoted" son. He said he wants to fulfil the dreams that his father, also a former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, espoused for the region.
"The circumstances that led to my father's defeat in 1996 now will work in my favour. The people of this area are upset with the sitting MP as he has not delivered according to their expectations. The development of this area has been arrested since the last 20 years. I want to fulfil my father's dream for Satna," he said.