New Delhi: Responding to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s suggestion to contest from a “tough” seat in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said he will fight from wherever Congress president Rahul Gandhi asks him to.
“To accept challenges is my habit. I won from Raghogarh despite the Janata Party wave in 1977. I am ready to contest the Lok Sabha elections from wherever my leader Rahul Gandhi ji says,” Singh tweeted. “I’m grateful to Kamal Nath for thinking that I’m competent enough to fight Lok Sabha elections,” read another tweet by the Congress leader.
Nath had asked Singh to choose a seat where the Congress has not won for three decades or more like Bhopal, Indore, and Vidisha- seats that are considered to be strongholds of the BJP. It is being said that Singh is looking to contest from Rajgarh seat, which he had represented in 1984 and 1991. Interestingly, BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan has been continuously winning Indore parliamentary seat from 1991 to 2014. The last time Congress won there was in 1984.
Also Read: MP CM Kamal Nath wants Digvijaya Singh to take up ‘toughest seat’ Lok Sabha challenge
Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency comprises eight Assembly segments — Bhojpur, Sanchi (SC), Silwani, Vidisha, Basoda, Budhni, Ichhawar, and Khategaon spread across four districts of Raisen, Sehore, Dewas and Vidisha. Except for the Assembly constituencies of Sanchi and Vidisha, which are in the bag of Congress, rest of the six seats are being held by BJP. The high-profile constituency was represented by party stalwarts like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1991, Sushma Swaraj in 2009 and 2014, and former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.
However, Singh’s brother Laxman Singh, who is a sitting Congress MLA, had won from the seat in 1994, 1996, 1998 and 1999 as a Congress candidate and in 2004 as a BJP candidate. In Madhya Pradesh, polling will be conducted in four stages during phase four, five, six and seven scheduled on April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19, respectively. Madhya Pradesh has a total of 29 Lok Sabha constituencies. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had won from 27 constituencies while Congress bagged two seats.