Sharique N Siddiquie
Budhni- Budhni is the constituency of current Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He was first elected from this constituency in 1990. In 2003 elections, he contested unsuccessfully against the then Chief Minister Digvijay Singh from Raghogarh. After a phase of political upheaval and Uma Bharti’s removal from BJP, he became the Chief Minister of the state on November 29, 2005. Mahesh Singh is the chief opposition candidate fielded by Congress against him from this constituency.
Govindpura- Former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Babulal Gaur is contesting from Govindpura. He has such a strong hold over the constituency that he has not lost a single election since 1980 when he beat the Congress strongman RD Tripathi. In 2003 assembly elections, he secured 59.13 percent votes while his nearest Congress rival Shiv Kumar Urmaliya got 28.39 percent of total votes. Vibha Patel is fighting against Gaur as Congress candidate.
Dewas- Dewas is the constituency of BJP strong man and state Tourism Minister Tukojirao Pawar. Tukojirao has been winning on this seat since 1990 when he beat the Congress candidate Jamgod Surender Singh. This time Congress has fielded Sajjan Singh Varma from this constituency.
Mauganj- Senior BJP leader and state IT Minister, Kailash Vijayvargiya, has added significance to this seat by taking a decision to contest from here. Mauganj lies in the Bhind district of the state. According to 2001 census, Mau had a population of 17,625 which constitute 57% males and 43% females. The constituency is currently held by BSP’s Dr IMP Verma. Congress has fielded Rakesh Ratan Singh from this crucial seat.
Kukshi- Kukshi has become politically significant as leader of opposition and senior Congress leader Jamuna Devi decided to contest from this seat. This constituency is reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates. She first won this seat in 1985 elections by beating BJP’s Babusinh Mohansinh, but in 1990, she lost to BJP’s Ranjana Baghel and once again won from here in 1993 elections. In 2003, she secured 55.91 percent votes to defeat BJP’s Pratap Singh Baghel, who is again challenging her from here in the upcoming election.
Churhat- Ajay Singh, son of senior Congress leader and Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh, is contesting from this assembly seat. He won the Churhat assembly seat in 2003 elections by a margin of 13,918 votes from his BJP’s nearest rival Govind Prasad. BJP has again pitted Govind Prasad against the Congress strongman.
Tikamgarh- Tikamgarh, a small town of Madhya Pradesh, has become very important in this election as firebrand leader and founder President of Bharatiya Janashakti Party, Uma Bharati decided to contest from here. Currently held by Akhand Pratap Singh Yadav who got 36.42 percent votes in 2003 elections beating his nearest rival SP’s Yadvendra Singh, this seat is one of the most awaited contests of this election. BJP has fielded Akhand Pratap Singh Yadav whereas Pradeep Yadav is fighting on Congress’ ticket.
