Decks have been cleared for a direct fight between two brothers, who will contest Assembly elections for the Barwaha seat in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone district on the ticket of rival parties in the November 25 Assembly polls.
The Congress has fielded Rajendra Singh Solanki from Barwaha. Squaring up to him will be his younger brother and BJP nominee Hitendra Singh Solanki, a veteran of two Assembly elections. While the contest is set to severely test their relationship, office-bearers and workers of both the parties are simmering over their candidature as the brothers are facing severe dissent within the constituency.
Several independent candidates belonging to Gujjar community whose populace dominates the constituency have also filed their nomination papers. A decision is likely to be taken by community members on Saturday over continuing to field a strong candidate against the two brothers. Piqued Congress office bearers and workers would also openly support this candidate as they feel that rebels are not punished by the party post-elections, rather they are rewarded.
Youth Congress leader Vijay Patel and Madhya Pradesh Congress Scheduled Caste Cell’s State secretary Suresh Solanki alleged that Rajendra Solanki had been working for BJP for the past 10 years. He canvassed votes for his brother Hitendra Solanki during the previous two elections. He was expelled from the party for the same reasons but still he has been provided with ticket this time.
Suresh Solanki alleged that the decision amounted to gross injustice to field workers. The Congress even fielded Jhuma Solanki from Bhikgangaon and Ravi Joshi from Khargone even though they were expelled by the party following previous elections. On the other hand, BJP workers are disgruntled over Hitendra Solanki’s nomination. A few BJP office bearers have filed nomination papers as independent candidates. Both siblings find themselves in an awkward predicament over the manner to carry out campaigning under these circumstances.