There is no end to the woes of the Congress in the Sumawali assembly constituency of Madhya Pradesh with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) out to devour all the disgruntled candidates of the party one after another.
Initially, the Congress had named Kuldeep Sikarwar its candidate from Sumawali. Upset over the decision, the party’s MLA from the seat Ajab Singh Kushwaha declared that he was joining the BSP. His supporters staged protests in Bhopal to oppose the decision and to persuade the Congress leadership to give the ticket to Ajab Singh Kushwaha instead.
Fearing that after joining the BSP the disgruntled MLA Kushwaha would contest from Sumawali on a BSP ticket and dent the Congress vote bank, the party yesterday finally relented him under pressure from the protesting party workers and announced dropping of Sikarwar and naming of Ajab Singh Kushwaha candidate from Sumawali.
However, the Congress party’s troubles were far from over. It was now Kuldeep Sikarwar’s turn to revolt against the party complaining that he had been treated unfairly.
To complicate matters further, the BSP was quick to grab the opportunity and name Kuldeep Sikarwar its official candidate from Sumawali the same night.
Madhya Pradesh BSP Chief Ramakant Pippal declared a list of 13 candidates late night on Wednesday, and Sikarwar was named BSP candidate from Sumawali.
With this, the Congress appears to be back to square one in Sumawali. It will now have to find a way to protect its votes from being taken away by its former leader to the BSP.
The voting for the 230 seats in the MP State Assembly polls will take place on 17 November.