BJP PULLS OUT THE BIG GUNS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Bhopal on September 25 to address a grand gathering of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cadres, organised on the completion of its Jan Ashirwad Yatra.

- Rahul Noronha

Even as the PM flew back the same evening, most within the state BJP had no inkling of the surprise the party’s central command was about to spring on them later in the day. A second list of candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly election was announced that evening. It featured 39 names—among them seven Lok Sabha members, including three Union ministers. The following day, the BJP announced another candidate, taking the total to 79 and covering over a third of the 230 seats, even as the rival Congress is yet to come out with its first list.