Digvijaya, Scindia lead Congress push in MP

Congress would be expecting major gains in this phase in the eight seats that will vote, among them

Bhopal

, where former CM Digvijaya Singh is taking on

Malegaon

blast accused Sadhvi Pragya.


Also in the fray is Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia, contesting from his bastion of Guna, and BJP veteran Narendra Singh Tomar, who has shifted from Gwalior to Morena. In Guna-Shivpuri, BJP’s attempt at checkmating

Scindia

saw the party field one of his former aides, KP Yadav. But Scindia managed to get Lokendra Singh Rajput to cross over to Congress after he had filed nomination as the BSP candidate. The Congress move infuriated Mayawati, who warned she could reconsider support to the Kamal Nath government.

Union minister Tomar used his clout to get the BSP candidate in Morena,

Ramlakhan Singh

, changed. Singh, a strong Thakur leader from Bhind, could have proved a threat for Tomar, but Kartar Bhadana, who eventually got the BSP ticket, is likely to hurt Congress’s Ramniwas Rawat more. In Gwalior, Congress’s Ashok Singh is up against mayor Vivek Shejwalkar. Singh, a Digvijaya loyalist, is hoping for support from Scindia.