MLAs who 'sacrificed' to remove Congress govt will be contenders for tickets in by-polls: Madhya Pradesh BJP chief

By Pragya Kaushika
New Delhi [India], May 20 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to allocate tickets for the forthcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly by-polls to a majority of former Congress members of the House who helped the party wrest power from Kamal Nath.
According to state BJP President VD Sharma, those who resigned as MLAs are strong contenders for the tickets in by-elections as they had "sacrificed" a lot and are thus strong contenders for being fielded.
"These are people had left their ministerial berths and posts as MLAs to save Madhya Pradesh from corruption and poor administration. I would not be wrong in saying that these people had sacrificed themselves and their posts for the state. So, for this reason, all of them are in consideration for the candidature," the state BJP President told ANI.
The by-polls have been necessitated as seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs resigned.
The party is already gearing up for by-elections in 24 assembly constituencies. MLAs considered close to Jyotiraditya Scindia had resigned and later crossed over to the BJP resulting in the fall of Kamal Nath government in the state.
The nomination for tickets for the by-elections will be approved by the Central leadership of the party, he added.
Despite lockdown, the party has begun preparations for these by-polls. According to Sharma, online meetings in all constituencies are being conducted. Present in these meeting were 20-25 people including former candidates, district, mandal level leaders and other prominent leaders in every constituency.
"We have strengthened the organisation online. Shakti kendra and booth level meetings have begun. We work round the year. We will reach people through online mediums and door to door campaign will be done by keeping physical distancing and following other health measures," said Sharma.
The by-polls are expected to take place in September.
Sharma praised BJP workers in the state and called them Corona warriors.
"I take pride in saying that BJP workers are not less than any Corona warriors. They have served people while endangering their lives. One of our corporator from Ujjain contracted and died while serving people. We have ensured that migrants reaching or crossing over the state will get food and essentials," claimed Sharma.
On the announcement of his new team in the state, Sharma said, " it will be announced soon. It got delayed as we all are busy with COVID-19 relief work. It may get announced by the end of this month." (ANI)