Madhya Pradesh Elections 2023: What are the hot-button issues?

Madhya Pradesh goes to polling on Friday (17 November) to elect legislators for 230 Assembly seats. The main fight remains between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress even though other parties like Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and Communist Party of India (Marxist) are also in the fray. Around 5.6 crore voters in the Hindi heartland state will decide the future of over 2,000 candidates. The Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh also assume significance as they come just months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year. Of the total of 2,534 candidates, 472 have declared criminal cases against them. About 291 of them are facing serious charges, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms. Before MP casts ballots, let’s take a closer look at the key contenders and the issues that are likely to dominate the fray. Madhya Pradesh Polls: Key faces Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the BJP’s candidate for the Budhni seat, which he has held since 2006. He will face Congress’ nominee Ramayan actor Vikram Mastal from the constituency. In 2018 polls, Chouhan had trounced former state Congress president Arun Yadav by more than 58,000 votes. [caption id=“attachment_13394942” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is facing a strong anti-incumbency. PTI File Photo[/caption] Congress leader and its CM face Kamal Nath is fighting from the Chhindwara seat against the BJP’s Vivek Bunty Sahu. Former CM Digvijaya Singh’s son and sitting MLA Jaivardhan Singh has been given a ticket by the Congress from Raghogarh. He will take on the BJP’s Hirendra Singh Banti Banna. Govind Singh is the Congress candidate from the Lahar constituency in the Bhind district. The BJP has fielded Ambrish Sharma against the seven-time MLA. The saffron party has also given tickets to several bigwigs in MP polls , including three Union ministers, this time. Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar will fight from the Dimani seat of Morena, Minister of State (MoS) Prahlad Singh Patel from Narsingpur, and MoS Faggan Singh Kulaste from Niwas – a seat reserved for STs. Congress has fielded Ravindra Singh Tomar from Dimani, Lakhan Singh Patel from Narsingpur and Chain Singh Warkade from Niwas ST seat. BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya is contesting from the Indore Assembly Number 1 seat against Congress’ Sanjay Shukla. MP home minister Narottam Mishra is the BJP nominee from Datia seat, facing Congress’ Rajendra Bharti. Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections: Key issues Several issues are likely to take centre stage as electors vote for the next government of Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh’s longest-serving CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is facing anti-incumbency, which is probably one of the reasons his party has stopped short of projecting him as the CM face. Chouhan has been trying to overcome the anti-incumbency factor against him by endorsing his welfare schemes, including the popular Ladli Behna Yojana – a monthly financial assistance for underprivileged women. The Congress’ promise of a farm loan waiver if it comes to power has also resonated with farmers, as per Moneycontrol. The Congress has targeted the ruling BJP government in the state over crimes against women. [caption id=“attachment_13394982” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Kamal Nath is Congress’ CM face in MP. PTI File Photo[/caption] Both the chief parties in MP are playing the Hindutva card, with the BJP trying to corner Congress over the Sanatan Dharma controversy, as per an Indian Express report. The saffron party has also highlighted its development of religious tourist circuits, including Ujjain’s Mahakal Lok corridor and the Adi Shankaracharya statue in Omkareshwar. Congress’ Kamal Nath is pursuing “soft” Hindutva by presenting himself as a Hanuman devotee, including by erecting a massive statue of the deity in his constituency Chhindwara, the report added. The BJP is trying to woo tribals who account for over 21 per cent of the state’s population. Of the 47 Assembly seats reserved for STs, the saffron party had won only 16 seats while the Congress swept 30 seats in 2018. The Grand Old Party has been attacking the BJP by underscoring atrocities against tribals in the state, noted Indian Express. Unemployment is expected to be a key poll issue as lakhs of youth vote in the state polls. Chouhan has vowed to provide a job to each household if his party returns to power. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had claimed in her Jabalpur speech in June that the BJP government gave only 21 government jobs in MP in the last three years, expressing surprise over the low figure, reported Indian Express. The Congress also trained the guns on the BJP over alleged corruption, labelling the Chouhan government a “50 per cent commission” one. Kamal Nath has accused in his campaign speeches that there is “no limit to corruption”, as per the English daily. The saffron party has countered the narrative by bringing up Congress’ rule at the Centre which had allegations of scams in coal and 2G spectrum and so on. While the Grand Old Party has been demanding a nationwide caste census, it is not a poll issue in MP, reported Moneycontrol. With Other Backward Classes (OBC) making up for about 50 per cent of the population in the state, both parties have tried to court this important voter base. The Congress and BJP’s Uma Bharti have called for an OBC quota within women’s reservations. The perceived discontent within the BJP in MP could make it tougher for the party to retain the state. The Congress has taken advantage of this by inducting several saffron party leaders ahead of the polls. With inputs from agencies