Congress dreams to break jinx to win Bhopal LS seat
| Date :15-Mar-2019 |
By Rajan Raikwar,
It has been a long cherished dream of Congress to win the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat. Every time, BJP manages to come up with flying colours, leaving Congress on the loser’s end. This time, Congress wants to break the jinx and in this regard, it is planning foolproof strategy. On the other hand, BJP is confident of retaining Bhopal Lok Sabha seat which has turned out to be its strong citadel. Currently, BJP leader Alok Sanjar is Member of Parliament from Bhopal. In last Lok Sabha election, he had defeated most popular Congress leader P C Sharma by a huge margin. The reason is this that BJP organisation is too strong in Bhopal. Whether this time, he will be the face of BJP again or not is a debatable question but many fathom that BJP may like to give chance to someone else.
In BJP, there are many leaders who are eyeing the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat as they knew that if they get the ticket then they are definitely going to win the election to revive their political career. After savouring defeat in Assembly elections 2018, former minister Umashankar Gupta is interested to contest Lok Sabha election from Bhopal seat. Moreover, former Chief Minister and veteran BJP leader Babulal Gaur is also sending the feelers to party that he is still capable of fighting the election and if party gives the chance then he would contest the election. Mayor Alok Sharma is also in the race to get Lok Sabha ticket. Apart from this, there are many other leaders who are clandestinely making efforts to get Bhopal Lok Sabha ticket. BJP is flooded with the leaders seeking Bhopal Lok Sabha ticket but Congress is still making up mind that who could be the best Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal seat. Congress leader Sandeep Dixit, son for former Delhi CM Sheila Dixit, is interested to contest Lok Sabha election from Bhopal seat.
He has openly expressed his feelings on a few occasions that he wants to contest Lok Sabha election from Bhopal. Even Congress party’s treasurer Govind Goyal is making all out efforts to get Bhopal Lok Sabha ticket. The other leaders who are staking claim for Bhopal Lok Sabha seat in Congress are Kailash Mishra and Abha Singh. It was way back in 1984, when Congress leader K L Pradhan won the election. After this, BJP has been regularly winning Bhopal Lok Sabha seat. “If BJP considers me again for ticket of Bhopal Lok Sabha seat then I will follow the party guideline. I have done numerous development works. For instance, Habibganj station is going to get the world class look. Road’s of more than 350 crore have been constructed in Bhopal constituency. Apart from this, I also ensured construction of more than 52,000 toilets and thus contributed in cleanliness campaign in big way.
Last time, I won election with a record margin of 3.71 lakh votes and if I manage to get ticket this time then I will break my owns record of winning last Lok Sabha election with huge margin,” said Member of Parliament from Bhopal, Alok Sanjar talking to ‘The Hitavada’. “In Congress, there are only few claimants for Bhopal Lok Sabha ticket. No prominent face is coming to fore in this regard so far,” said a Congress leader on condition of anonymity. Notably, Bhopal Lok Sabha seat comprises eight Assembly seats and five of them are with the BJP. Hence, winning Bhopal Lok Sabha seat is going to be an uphill task for Congress.