MP: Congress unhappy with Dhar candidate, likely to replace with new face

Bhopal: The Congress leadership is allegedly disappointed with its candidate for Dhar Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, and is likely to field a new face.

Congress has fielded Radheshyam Muvel from Dhar, one of the five Lok Sabha seats reserved for Schedule Tribes (ST) in Madhya Pradesh.

However, the Congress leadership found its candidate inactive on ground for the election. A senior Congress spokesperson said that Muvel’s ticket from Dhar was cleared in the first list, however, he did not open even a single office for the election.

"Radheshyam Muvel was racing for the ticket but he is not active anymore on the ground. Local party workers have appealed to the party's Central leadership to replace him with a new face," a spokesperson told IANS.

According to sources, Congress is likely to replace Muvel with Mahendra Kannauj, who is a part of the Jay Adivasi Yuva Sangthan (JAYS) from Dhar.

The election in Dhar is scheduled in the fourth phase on May 13, along with six other constituencies of MP's Malwa-Nimar region, namely, Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Indore, Khargone and Khandwa.

The Congress has lost two consecutive general elections from Dhar (2014 and 2019), however, it won five out of eight Assembly seats under this Lok Sabha seats in November last year. On the other hand, BJP won three.

Five out of eight Assembly seats under Dhar Lok Sabha constituency are reserved for ST, and Congress bagged four of them, while the BJP was able to secure only one.

BJP won as many as eight Lok Sabha elections from 90 per cent tribal-dominated Dhar constituency, including in 2014 and 2019. This time, BJP has fielded ex-MP Savitri Singh from Dhar.