Lok Sabha election juggernaut rolls into Madhya Pradesh tomorrow

BHOPAL: Campaigning for six Lok Sabha seats of Madhya Pradesh that will go on polls on April 29, ended on Saturday evening. The seats going to polls are Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandala, Balaghat and Chhindwara.
Apart from Chhindwara, the remaining five seats were won by BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. BJP has repeated its candidate on three seats — Sidhi, Mandala and Jabalpur while in Shahdol, Balaghat and Chhindwara, it has fielded new faces.Chhindwara seat, a bastion of chief minister Kamal Nath is being contested by his son Nakul Nath this time. Prime minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed two rallies for the fourth phase in the state. Modi addressed two rallies in Sidhi and Jabalpur on April 26 while Rahul Gandhi addressed two rallies in Shahdol and Jabalpur on April 23.

Local issues seem to have subsided in the polls. For BJP it is ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’ while Congress — buoyed by its win in MP assembly polls — is trying to cash its farm-loan waiver promise and Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY), a scheme that assures minimum annual income of Rs 72,000 to 20% poorest families in the country.

Rahul Gandhi’s aggressive campaign against Modi is also making headlines. Sitting BJP MPs in Madhya Pradesh are hoping to win back the seats again on Modi factor while Congress is aiming to continue its winning assembly polls winning streak.