Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Guna in Madhya Pradesh, the seat he lost to the BJP in the 2019 elections. Mr Scindia has a deep-rooted connection with this region and his 2019 loss was seen as a marked shift from the Guna's historical loyalty to the Scindias.
The Guna Lok Sabha seat was traditionally represented by the Scindias since 1957. In 2001, Jyotiraditya Scindia entered politics after the death of his father and former Union minister, Madhavrao Scindia, in a plane crash. The next year, he contested from the Guna Lok Sabha seat.
In 2019, he was defeated by the BJP's KP Yadav.
The political landscape in Madhya Pradesh changed soon after Mr Scindia's defeat as a coup led by him led to the collapse of the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government in 2020.
Mr Scindia - once close to the Gandhi family - resigned from the Congress in March 2020 after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi and shortly after his exit, 21 Congress MLAs loyal to him also quit.
His switch to the BJP, co-founded by his grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia, soon after was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat and a berth in the Union Cabinet. His two aunts - Vasundhara Raje and Yashodhara Raje - are also in the BJP.
In a much-anticipated announcement, the BJP this evening released the first list of 195 candidates. The list includes PM Modi from his constituency Varanasi and 34 ministers from the Centre and states.
The party has finalised 24 names for Madhya Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections. Senior BJP leader Shivraj Chouhan, who was replaced by the party leadership as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister with Mohan Yadav after assembly elections last year, has been fielded from Vidisha constituency. This is being seen as a win for Mr Chouhan who, sources say, was offered the Bhopal seat which he rejected and conveyed his desire to fight from Vidisha.
The list comes days after the BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) met on Thursday night to deliberate on the Lok Sabha candidates.
In the last general elections, the BJP-led National Democratic (NDA) won a total of 303 seats, leaving the Congress behind at 52 seats.
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