Budhni bypoll: Shivraj backs Bhargava, Cong in fight mode

Bhopal: Union minister for agriculture and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday took oath as a member of the Lok Sabha. Chouhan who was sworn-in as a cabinet minister in the BJP-led NDA govt on June 7, resigned as MLA from Budhni seat on June 17.
After representing Budhni for 18 years, Chouhan submitted his resignation from the state assembly to Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar.This makes Budhni the second assembly seat to go for bypoll after Amarwara.
Though Chouhan’s seat may go to the bypoll later this year, the state Congress has already started preparations in the assembly segment where it has fallen weak over the last two decades.
Being the chief minister’s constituency since 2006, BJP has gone stronger with every assembly election here while the Congress has lost its workers at the booths and mandalam levels. Realising the tough ground situation in the constituency, Congress has appointed former minister Jaivardhan Singh and former MLA Shailendra Patel as in charges for Budhni bypoll.
Sources in the Congress party said that in workers’ meetings in Budhni, Jaivardhan Singh has been praising the contribution of former MLA Rajkumar Patel. Going by this, it is likely that Rajkumar Patel who won the seat in 1993 defeating BJP’s Guruprasad Sharma by a margin of 1,745 votes, could be considered as party candidate for the bypoll.
In 1990, Shivraj Singh Chouhan (then a student leader) won the assembly seat for the first time. However, after the 1991 Lok Sabha election, BJP patriarch Atal Behari Vajpayee who won both Lucknow and Vidisha constituencies decided the vacate the latter. Shivraj Singh Chouhan was fielded from Vidisha Lok Sabha seat and won the election and thereafter, continued to represent the constituency till 2005 when he became chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Rajkumar Patel won the Budhni assembly seat and in 1998, his brother Devkumar Patel won the seat by a slim margin of 1,774 votes.
In December 2003, BJP’s Rajendra Singh won the seat by a margin of 10,436 votes. But Rajendra Singh left the seat for Shivraj Singh Chouhan who contested the bypoll from Budhni as chief minister. Budhni continued to be Chouhan seat till last Monday when he resigned from the assembly.
In a video message post resignation, Chouhan said, “Today, I am feeling very emotional. I have resigned from the membership of the Madhya Pradesh assembly. The people of Budhni live in my breath. I started my public life from Budhni and people have showered their love and affection on me.”
A state BJP functionary said that Chouhan wants former MP from Vidisha Ramakant Bhargava to contest as party candidate from Budhni. Bhargava won the Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 by a margin of 5,03,084 votes defeating Congress Shailendra Patel, who is in-charge of Budhni bypoll along with Jaivardhan Singh.
Since Chouhan was fielded from Vidisha this Parliamentary election, he wants Bhargava to be elected from Budhni. However, the organisation wants to field a grassroot worker, preferably a fresh face from the constituency.