Indore (Madhya Pradesh): After much brainstorming, BJP has reportedly finalised Pushyamitra Bhargav as its candidate for mayoral elections from Indore. However, the official announcement was not made till the filing of this report.
If Bhargav was given the ticket then it will be a Brahmin vs Brahmin contest in the city.
Both Bhargav and Congress candidate Sanjay Shukla are Brahmins.
A name not much known in the field of politics, Sudama Nagar resident Bhargav, a loyalist of BJP state chief VD Sharma, is additional advocate general at Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court.
He is 40 years old and is an alumnus of Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya. His father is a doctor by profession and his mother is a retired teacher.
Selection of his name as the mayoral candidate took many by surprise. In its May 30 edition, Free Press had first published Bhargav’s name among front runners for ticket to mayoral post.
Bhargav had started his career as an ABVP activist. He held many senior positions in ABVP and then went on to become a member in the national executive of BJYM.
When the Congress government was toppled and Shivraj Singh Chouhan became CM again, Bhargav was made additional advocate general.
Though Bhargav is from Sharma’s camp, he also has good rapport with BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
Burden to save BJP’s fortress
BJP has been winning mayoral elections since 2000 in the city.
Though Indore has been BJP's bastion for the past 22 years, the last assembly elections threw up a big surprise as the political field got levelled in Indore with BJP and Congress winning four seats each in assembly elections. However, Sanwer MLA Tulsi Silawat crossed over to BJP and then won by-election on a saffron party ticket thus bringing the tally to 5-3. So it will be a tough contest between Congress and BJP this time. Indore-1 MLA Sanjay Shukla has contested two assembly elections – one in 2008 (which he lost) and another in 2018 (which he won) whereas Bhargav is new to electoral politics.
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