Bhopal: Congress veteran and six-time MLA Arif Aqueel’s son, Atif Aqueel, has been made the Congress contender from Bhopal North, and MLA PC Sharma will once again contest from Bhopal South West seat
Ravindra Sahu and Naresh Gyanchandani are the Congress nominees from Govindpura and Huzur constituencies in Bhopal.
Arif Aqueel, 71, has not been keeping well for over a year. Speculations have been put to rest with another Aqueel pitted against former Bhopal MLA Alok Sharma. Aqueel Sr had defeated Sharma in an assembly election. Arif was the lone Muslim MLA in the MP assembly for almost two decades, until 2018, when Arif Masood won from Bhopal Central constituency.
Congress stalwart P C Sharma, a cabinet minister in the Kamal Nath government, will again contest from Bhopal South West. BJP is yet to announce a candidate from the seat. Ravindra Sahu will take on incumbent MLA Krishna Gaur in the BJP bastion of Govindpura. And Gyanchandani will once again take on incumbent BJP MLA from Huzur, Rameshwar Sharma. In 2018, the winning margin in Huzur was the lowest of all seven seats in Bhopal.
In the SC-reserved Sanchi seat, it’s doctor vs doctor. Congress candidate Dr GC Gautam will take on BJP health minister Prabhuram Chaudhary who switched to BJP with Jyotiraditya Scindia in 2020. The contest, for now, is too close to call.
BJP MLA Brijmohan Agrawal claims that the Congress party is fielding new candidates in every election because the people have rejected them. The Congress has announced 83 candidates for the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls, with the remaining seven to be finalized soon. The elections will be held in two phases on November 7 and November 17
