BSP announces list of 22 candidates for Madhya Pradesh polls, says it will contest all 230 seats

Bhopal: Dealing a blow to the Congress' plans to sew up an alliance, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Thursday announced 22 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections and said it will contest all 230 seats.

The list includes three sitting MLAs.

File image of BSP chief Mayawati. PTI

State Congress president Kamal Nath had said earlier that his party wants to join hands with like-minded parties such as the BSP for taking on the ruling BJP.

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Nath had also met BSP supremo Mayawati on 15 July.

However, the BSP said Thursday that it will contest all 230 Assembly seats on its own in the state where elections are due by year-end.

A Congress leader said on the condition of anonymity that his party still has hopes that an alliance with the BSP will materialise.

"They have announced only 22 candidates, including three sitting MLAs, for the seats where their position is strong. It is just a move to scare us and get a better seat sharing deal," he said.

"We had offered them 15-16 seats but they wanted more," he said.

However, BSP's Madhya Pradesh in-charge Ram Achal Rajbhar said his party will contest all 230 seats.

The list of candidates released by Rajbhar includes three out of the party's four sitting MLAs: Sheela Tyagi (Mangawa seat), Usha Choudhary (Raigaon) and Satyaprakash Sakwar (Ambah).

The name of a fourth BSP MLA, Balveer Singh Dandotia who represents Dimni in Morena district, does not figure in the list. BSP sources said he wants to contest from the Morena Assembly seat this time.

The list also names candidates for Assembly seats in Datia, Bhind, Shivpuri, Ashoknagar, Chhattarpur, Damoh, Singrauli, Sidhi, Shahdol, Umaria, Katni and Jabalpur districts.