BJP names three picks; no word yet on Bhopal, Indore

BHOPAL: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced names of three more candidates for Madhya Pradesh, but it is yet to declare candidates for five seats in the state, including high-profile Bhopal, Indore and Vidisha.

The Congress has declared candidates for 28 of MP’s 29 seats. The party is yet to declare its candidate for Indore, from where sitting MP and Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan has withdrawn from the contest.

The candidates whose names were announced on Sunday are: Vishnu Dutt Sharma from Khajuraho, GS Damor from Ratlam (ST) and Chhatar Singh Darbar from Dhar (ST). The BJP dropped its sitting MPs from Khajuraho and Dhar seats.

In Bhopal, the party is yet to find a candidate against the Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh.

In Indore, the party is to look for a suitable candidate in place of Mahajan. For Vidisha, represented by Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, the party has not announced any candidates. Swaraj has announced she will not contest the elections.