Rajnath dares Congress to name CM candidates

JANJGIR CHAMPA: Home minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday mocked the Congress over factionalism in the party and demanded that it reveal the names of its chief ministerial candidates in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, like the BJP.

Campaigning for the second phase of assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Singh claimed the opposition party would “break into factions” the moment it announces the names of its chief ministerial candidates. “Not just in Chhattisgarh but Congress should reveal the names of their candidates for the post of chief minister in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, like us. We have made it clear who would be the next chief minister of the BJP in these states (and) the Congress should do the same,” the BJP leader said. BHOPAL/UJJAIN/INDORE:MOST analyses about the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls are premature at this juncture. The slog overs for the November 28 contest haven’t yet begun. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) star all-rounder, Narendra Modi, is yet to walk on to the field.

The party considers the Prime Minister a match-winner capable of converting defeat into victory. An example of this was Gujarat, where he helped the BJP retain power in a close finish. It’s another matter that in the final phases, he played cross-bat shots, or chucked as his party’s pace spearhead.

The parallel between the two states, however, is a tad misplaced. Madhya Pradesh is not Gujarat, where the cities came to the BJP’S rescue. By a rough calculation, there are 40-45 urban seats and 25-30 semi-urban constituencies in the state. Its largest city Indore —known locally as ‘Mini Bombay’ — alone has nine assembly segments.

The BJP won eight of these seats in 2013, barring Rau on the city’s rural outskirts. The story this time could be different with local analysts rating the Congress’s chances as being better in four-five constituencies.

“The business community is angry due to the twin assault of demonetisation and GST [Goods and Services Tax]. There’s no clean sweep happening for the BJP this time,” said Ankit Jain, a