Surprised to see my name in candidates' list: Vijayvargiya

Bhopal: BJP's national General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said on Tuesday that he was surprised to see his name in the second list of 39 candidates announced by the party for the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh on Monday.

The senior BJP leader, who has been out of state politics for nearly two decades, has been fielded from the Indore-1 Assembly constituency. The national leadership of the BJP seems to have taken this decision after observing a tough situation in Madhya Pradesh where the party is facing anti-incumbency after nearly two decades of its rule.

Interacting with his supporters in Indore on Tuesday, Vijayvargiya said he was surprised to find his name in the list of candidates.

The BJP leader said he had no intention to contest the Assembly polls, instead he had plans to campaign for the party across the state.

"I had no clue that I will be a candidate for the Assembly elections. But the party has a assigned this role to me and now I have to do it," Vijayvargiya said, adding that the BJP would form the government in MP with full majority.

At some other place in Indore, Vijayvargiya was also heard saying that he had plans to give speeches in different Assembly constituencies, but now he will be confined in his own segment.

Sources said that Vijayvargiya wanted ticket for his son and sitting MLA (Indore-3) Akash Vijayvargiya. However, the BJP leadership didn't agree. Akash had hit the headlines around three years back when he was seen beating an Indore Municipal Corporation official with a cricket bat.

The ruling BJP on Monday released its second list of 39 candidates for the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh. The list includes the names of four MPs and three Union ministers.

The BJP's second list features three Central ministers -- Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State (MoS) for Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel, and Minister of State for Rural Development and Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste.

While Tomar will contest from the Dimni seat, Patel and Kulaste will contest from Narsingpur and Niwas, respectively.

— IANS