The BJP on Tuesday named one more candidate for the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.
The ruling party has fielded Monika Bhatti, the President of Akjhil Bharatiya Gondwana Party, from Amarwada in Chhindwara district. Bhatti, the daughter of former MLA Mohan Shah Bhatti, had joined the BJP last week.
Her name was announced on Tuesday, a day after the central leadership of the BJP released its second list of 39 candidates, which comprised seven sitting MPs, including three Union ministers.
With this, the ruling party has so far named 79 candidates for the 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, which is scheduled to go to the polls later this year.
Sources in the BJP said that Bhatti's name was finalised after she joined the party last week, though her name was not mentioned in the second list released on Monday.
Sources also told IANS that Bhatti was inducted into the party after consultations with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the state election panel headed by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
Bhatti has been leading the Gondwana Party after his father and ex-MLA Mohan Shah Bhatti died a couple of years back.
The BJP's move seems to be aimed at challenging state Congress President Kamal Nath in his home district Chhindwara. The Congress had won all the eight Assembly seats in Chhindwara in 2018.
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