Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls | BJP goes easy over age, turns to warhorses to retain power

BJP fields 14 septuagenarians in MP polls, hopes to retain power. Party appears to have gone easy on age this time, fielding 14 candidates who are 70-plus, incl. 3 Union Ministers.

When it nominated seven MPs, including three Union Ministers, and a general secretary for Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections and organised whirlwind tours of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP left no room for doubt about its singular resolve to retain power in the State at any cost.

Behind its high-decibel campaign, powered by well-organised party machinery, the BJP also appears to have made a slight departure from its ‘next generation’ approach to stay ahead of an aggressive Congress and enhance its prospects of securing a majority of seats.

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The saffron party seems to have gone a bit easy over age this time by fielding 14 candidates who are 70-plus, with the oldest being 80. In contrast, the Opposition Congress has fielded nine septuagenarians for the November 17 polls.

According to political observers, the BJP’s move to go with warhorses could be the fallout of its drubbing in the Karnataka elections where it apparently picked younger candidates over old-timers like former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar (67) and ex-deputy CM K.S. Eshwarappa, then 74.

The BJP has fielded Nagendra Singh Nagod (80), a former State Minister, from the Nagod Assembly constituency in Satna district, and Nagendra Singh (79) from Gurh in Rewa district. Gurh also offers a sharp contrast in AAP’s Prakhar Pratap Singh, who left his job in the U.S. to enter the fray as the youngest candidate in the State at 25.

Both Mr. Nagod and Mr. Singh, sitting MLAs, had expressed their unwillingness to fight elections around five months ago, said Jairam Shukla, a political observer and former editor of the monthly magazine ‘Charavathi’ brought out by Pandit Deendayal Vichar Prakashan in MP.