MP polls: Congress releases first list of 155 candidates, 21 are women

The Congress party on Saturday released the first list of candidates for 155 seats for the upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.

Out of the 155 nominees, there are 21 women and 21 Scheduled Caste candidates respectively. About 34 of them are from the Scheduled Tribe category.

The brother of senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, Lakshman Singh, who was a former Member of Parliament (MP), got a ticket from Chachoura constituency. Digvijay's son Jaivardhan Singh, who is a sitting Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), secured a ticket from Raghogarh constituency.

Veteran leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi's brother Alok Chaturvedi will contest the assembly elections from Chhatarpur constituency. Vikrant Bhuria, son of  Member of Parliament (MP), Kantilal Bhuria also got a ticket from Jhabua constituency.

KK Kalukheda, who is the brother of former Congress minister Mahendra Singh Kalukheda, will also contest the assembly polls from Jaora constituency.

Moreover, Sachin Yadav, who is the brother of former Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president, Arun Yadav secured a ticket from Kasrawad. Other senior leaders such as Suresh Pachouri and Govind Singh will contest the elections from Bhojpur and Lahar constituencies respectively.

Former MP Vijaylaxmi Sadho will be contesting the upcoming polls from Maheshwar constituency.

While expressing her optimism about the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Congress leader Shobha Oza told ANI, "It is a very good list and a lot of thought has been put into it. The candidates are very strong, and we are confident that we will win the elections with full majority." Other Congress leaders such as Pankaj Chaturvedi and Narendra Saluja also echoed the same sentiments.

Madhya Pradesh is slated to elect members from 230 constituencies on November 28. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released their list on Friday, with the current Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan contesting the election from his home constituency, Budhni.