MP polls: Dy Collector Nisha Bangre’s resignation accepted, will Cong replace Amla candidate?

Bhopal : Following the Supreme Court’s intervention, the Madhya Pradesh government has finally accepted Chhatarpur Deputy Collector Nisha Bangre’s resignation as the officer was willing to contest the Assembly election on a Congress ticket from her home district Betul.

However, the development came after the Congress announced its candidate for Amla constituency of Betul district. The Congress had delayed the announcement of candidate from the seat after sensing that Bangre's resignation acceptance may be delayed. And Monday late evening had announced Manoj Malve as the candidate.

With this the Congress announced its candidates for all 230 seats for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election scheduled for November 17. The ruling BJP has so far announced 228 candidates and two seats -- Vidisha and Guna are still on hold.

Now, after the government accepted Bangre's resignation, it would be interesting to see if the Congress replaces its candidate from Amla and will she get to make her political debut?

The political circles were filled with assumptions that the Congress would field her from Amla as she had a meeting with the state unit chief Kamal Nath soon after she had submitted her resignation from the service in June this year.

Sources in the Madhya Pradesh Congress told IANS that at least three candidates are likely to be replaced with new one, including Amla and Semaria in Rewa district.

Importantly, Bangre had earlier staged protests outside Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s residence in Bhopal. Former Minister P.C. Sharma had then also joined her and they were detained by the police.

"Until a few days ago, it was very clear that Nisha Bangre will be fielded as a candidate from the Amla seat, which is the reason the party had put the announcement on hold. It's up to the state top leadership to decide, but there are at least three candidates who can be replaced," a source in Madhya Pradesh Congress told IANS.

Bangre has approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking direction to the government for speedy acceptance of her resignation, which she tendered on June 22. However, the bureaucrat's petition had been pending as she faces disciplinary proceedings, her counsel, senior advocate Brian De Silva had said earlier.

While hearing her petition, the high court in Jabalpur earlier last week directed the state government to take a decision by October 23 on her resignation from service and disciplinary proceedings against her.