Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls: BJP releases first list of candidates for 39 seats

Umaria (Madhya Pradesh) [India], September 15 (ANI): The ruling BJP has declared its first list of candidates for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the party's election in-charge for the state, informed on Thursday.
As part of its first list, the ruling party has declared candidates for 39 Assembly seats.
Speaking to reporters at Umaria in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, Tomar said, "We have declared our candidates on 39 seats for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. The candidates for the remaining seats will be named soon."
While the ruling party has already hit the campaign trail for the upcoming elections, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah headlining the BJP campaign events, the Congress, which is the principal Opposition player in the state, has also switched to campaign mode.
Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party, which had earlier announced its electoral foray in the state, put out its first list of candidates for the Assembly polls.
The party, led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, released a list of ten candidates for Sewda, Govindpura, Huzur, Dimani, Morena, Petlawad, Sirmmor, Sironj, Churhat, and Maharajpur Assembly seats.
Earlier, addressing a mega public rally in the Bina district of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, PM Modi launched a scathing attack on the Opposition bloc — INDIA — calling it "INDI alliance".
He accused the bloc of working with a "hidden agenda" of destroying the country's "Sanatan culture" while railing against the Congress for leaving the state high and dry during its rule.
"At a time when Bharat is emerging as a world leader at global forums, some parties are trying to divide the country and its people. These people came together to form an ‘INDI’ alliance. Some people are calling it a ‘Ghamndiya (arrogant) alliance’. They don’t have a leader yet and there is a lot of suspense on who would lead them going into the Lok Sabha elections next year. They are working with a hidden agenda, which is to attack India's culture," PM Modi said.
“This INDI alliance adopted a resolution to end our 'Sanatan' culture. They are bent on destroying the ideologies, cultures and traditions that have kept the country and our people together for centuries,” PM Modi added. 
The state is scheduled to go for the Assembly polls later this year. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies.
The last Assembly polls in 2018 saw the Congress coming to power, with veteran leader Kamal Nath taking oath as the chief minister.
However, a political upheaval rocked the state in 2020, after then Congressman Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with 22 loyalist MLAs, switched over to the saffron camp.
The Congress government fell after being reduced to a minority and the BJP formed the government, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan returning as chief minister. (ANI)