Resentment is brewing in the Congress against the names of some candidates figuring in the second list of the party for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls. The announcement of the list of 88 candidates last night was followed by protests at half-a-dozen places.
Angry over the denial of the ticket, former Congress Lok Sabha member and MLA Premchand Guddu staged a protest with thousands of his supporters. He was expecting a ticket from the Aalot seat, but the Congress made Manoj Chawla an official party candidate from there.
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Guddu averred he would not accept the decision of New Delhi and Bhopal. He hinted that he might most likely contest as an independent candidate now.
Meanwhile, many disgruntled Congress workers burnt an effigy of party candidate Himmat Shrimal, who has been given a ticket from Jaora seat. The party workers said they would not accept Shrimal, as the party candidate.
Congress activists protested against the ticket given to a liquor trader, Ramveer Singh Sikarwar, from the Shujalpur seat. The Congress workers raised slogans saying they would not accept a liquor trader as the party candidate.
Meanwhile, supporters of former MLA Omprakash Raghuvanshi, who has been denied a ticket, came out on the road in protest. His supporters raised slogans demanding a ticket for him.
The Congress workers objected to the party candidates announced from Semaria of the Rewa district, Burhanpur, Shujalpur in Shajapur district, Seoni Malwa of the Narmadapuram district, Jaora of the Ratlam district, and at among other seats.
With the release of the second list, the Congress has now announced candidates on 229 of the 230 assembly seats in MP.
The single seat on hold is that of Amla. Deputy Collector Nisha Bangre, who recently resigned from service, is expecting to contest from there but it is still awaited as the matter of her resignation and further action is in the court.
The second list included the names of 11 women, taking the total number of women candidates to 30, which is about 13 percent of the 229 seats.
The party denied tickets to six of its sitting MLAs. It has also changed candidates on four seats announced in the first list.
The voting for the assembly polls in MP will take place on 17 November.
The process of filing nominations begins on 21 October.