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Close contests forecast in 18 of 40 MP seats

As many as 18 out of 40 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh are all set to witness nail-biting contests again in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. During the last Lok Sabha elections, a swing of just 0.5 to 0.7 per cent votes proved decisive in these constituencies.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won 12 of the 18 seats and 11 of these candidates are seeking re-election. The Congress, which bagged the remaining six seats, are re-nominating four of their winners. The sharp polarisation between the BJP and the Congress have made them traditional rivals in this state.

During the last elections, the BJP had won 30 seats and polled 45.73 per cent of the votes. The congress had to be content with the remaining 10 seats and 39.40 per cent of the votes. Last year's assembly elections witnessed a minor swing of 1.31 per cent in favour of the Congress which later formed the government with an absolute majority.

While the Congress polled 40.59 per cent of the votes, the BJP secured 39.28 per cent of the votes. In the Lok Sabha polls, the margin of win in five constituencies -- Shajapur (SC), Mandala (ST), Mandsaur, Sarangarh (SC) and Raigarh (ST) -- varied from 0.5 to 2.5 per cent.

The BJP bagged Shajapur, Mandala and Mandsaur while the Congress won in Sarangarh and Rajgarh.

The BJP has repeated four of its winners in these constituencies, while the Congress has brought in four new faces. Congress spokesperson Ajit Jogi, who was elected from Raigarh (ST), defeating his nearest rival and BJP state unit president Nand Kumar Sai by a slender margin of 4,382 votes, is now contesting from Shahdol.

Vishnu Sai has replaced Nand Kumar Sai. Thirteen seats in which the victory margin had varied between three and seven per cent of the votes are Gwalior, Sarguja (ST), Dhar (ST), Khargone, Seoini, Balaghat, Bastar (ST), Shahdol (ST), Indore, Satna, Janjgir, Sidhi (ST) and Khandwa. Of those who won from these constituencies, Congress General Secretary Madhavrao Scindia has opted to contest from Guna instead of his traditional seat, Gwalior, this time.

Former Bajrang Dal President Jaibhan Singh Paviya, who was defeated by Scindia by a margin of around 26,000 votes, is in the fray once again, trying his luck. As many as 10 constituencies in the last Lok Sabha elections had decided the verdict by a margin of seven to 10 per cent of the votes. These are Betul, Mahasamund, Rajgarh, Bilaspur (SC), Rajnandgaon, Durg, Rewa, Kanker (ST), Hoshangabad and Morena (SC).

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