Not projecting any Chief Ministerial face in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the BJP on Monday inducted its old warhorses, Union Ministers and several members of Parliament in the electoral battle in the three Assembly polls.

The party announced Madhya Pradesh four-time Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s name from his traditional Budhni seat in the State’s fourth list and named former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and its State president Arun Sao, also a Lok Sabha MP, as its candidates in its second list for the State .

Polling in Madhya Pradesh will be held on November 17.

In the first list released by the party for Rajasthan, the BJP included royal scion and Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari and Jaipur Rural MP and former Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

The party released the names of 64 candidates in its second list for Chhattisgarh, 57 candidates in the fourth list for Madhya Pradesh and 41 for the first list of Rajasthan.

Polling in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Telangana will be held between November 7 and 30 and results will be announced on December 3.

Chouhan’s name appeared on the fourth list of candidates for Madhya Pradesh on Monday.

The delay in announcing his name triggered considerable speculation as the party had already fielded three Central Ministers — Narendra Singh Tomar, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Prahlad Patel — four MPs and general secretary — Kailash Vijayvergia , by releasing their names in its second list of nominees.

MP’s Home Minister Narottam Mishra will fight from the Datia seat.

In the second list for the Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, the BJP fielded Raman Singh, a three-term former Chief Minister, from Rajnandgaon, his traditional constituency, while Sao will contest from Lormi.

BJP’s State president Arun Sao, also a Lok Sabha MP, will also be contesting the Assembly election.

Three MPs, including Renuka Singh and Gomati Sai, figured in the list as the party continued with fielding parliamentarians in the Assembly polls, underlining its all-out bid to win power in the current round of five-State elections.

Chhattisgarh is going to the polls in two phases on November 7 and November 17. The Congress had won 68 seats and the BJP 15 in the 2018 Assembly polls.

The BJP’s Central election committee comprising party national president JP Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders had approved the names of  57 candidates for Madhya Pradesh  at its meeting on October 1.

With this, the BJP has so far announced its candidates for 136 seats in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly which is expected to be a hard-fought contest between the BJP and the Congress with the latter banking on the anti-incumbency factor against the ruling party.

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is also seen to be a probable nominee from Shivpuri Assembly seat which has been vacated by Yashodhara Raje Scindia announcing that she will not contest elections from Shivpuri.

The first list of candidates for Rajasthan included Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari and Jaipur Rural MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

These are among the seven BJP parliamentarians who will contest the Rajasthan Assembly polls, according to the first list of 41 candidates issued by the party on Monday.

While Diya Kumari will fight the elections from Jaipur’s Vidhyadhar Nagar constituency, Rathore, a former Olympian shooter, will be contesting from Jhotwara, also in Jaipur district.

Diya Kumari is a member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family.

Rajasthan has the 200-member Assembly for which polling will take place on November 23.

The BJP is hopeful that it would wrest power from the Congress in Rajasthan as it fights evenly matched poll contests in Chhattisgarh which is again ruled by the Congress.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has sought to reduce anti-incumbency by announcing several welfare schemes, particularly those centered around women.

There is a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The BJP has sought to undercut factionalism in the State units by not projecting any Chief Minister face with the Prime Minister stressing in Rajasthan that the party’s election symbol ‘Kamal’ alone will be the face for  the BJP .

BJP’s next list for Rajasthan is likely to include Central Ministers and more MPs to balance the caste and influence over the voters in different Assembly segments, according to sources.