The constituencies which go to the polls on April 30 are Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Tikamgarh, Damoh, Rajgarh, Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Dhar, Indore, Khargone and Khandwa.

The Election Commissioner Dr. SY Quereshi, accompanied by the newly-appointed Election Commissioner Mr. VL Sampat, was in Bhopal on April 26 to have a final look at the poll preparedness in the state.

Many sitting members of Parliament and the Vidhan Sabha are in the fray in the second phase. Dr. LN Pandey, 81, the seniormost Lok Sabha member from the state is again making an attempt to enter the Lok Sabha. If he makes it, this will be his ninth consecutive term in the Lower House. His candidature is being opposed by a powerful section of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which wanted that he should be replaced by a new face, preferably a younger person. Dr. Pande is facing the main challenge from Ms. Meenakshi Natrajan. Ms. Natrajan has been very active in the Youth Congress. She has served as the president of the Youth Congress, National chief of the NSUI and Vice Chairperson of the “Nehru Yuva Kendra”.

Mandsaur is one of the oldest strongholds of the BJP and earlier of the Jana Sangh. Being the Opium-producing area, those who do illegal trade in Opium control the politics of the area. Allegations are often made that a section of the leadership of the BJP and to some extent of the Congress is mixed up with the opium lobby, which plays a crucial role in deciding the electoral verdict.

Besides Mandsaur, seven more constituencies of, what is known as the Malwa region will go to the polls on April 30. The seven constituencies are Dewas, Ujjain, Indore, Dhar, Ratlam, Khargone and Khandwa. Out of them, Indore and Ujjain have been returning BJP candidates since 1989. While Indore has been electing Ms. Sumitra Mahajan, Ujjain has been consistently sending Dr, Satynarain Jaitya to the Lok Sabha. Both Jatia and Mahajan have served as ministers in the Vajpayee ministry. A substantial section of the BJP rank and file wanted change but they were overruled by the party leadership. Among those who were opposing Ms. Mahajan's candidature was Mr. Kailash Vijayvargiya, a power cabinet minister of the state.

Both Ms. Mahajan and Mr. Jatiya are facing Congress lightweights. Dr. Jatia is being opposed by Premchand Guddu, who lost in the assembly polls while Ms. Mahajan is facing Mr. Satyanarain Patel, a sitting MLA from Indore. The Congress is hopeful that sabotage by BJP dissidents may facilitate the victory of its candidates.

From Khandwa, the Congress has sponsored Mr. Arun Yadav, sitting MP, who was elected to the Lok Sabha in a by-election defeating a powerful BJP leader. The party is quite hopeful that he may again get through. Mr. Bala Bacchan, sitting Congress legislator is the party candidate from Khargone. He is being opposed by a less well-known BJP leader.

A fierce contest is being witnessed in Ratlam between two Bhurias. The Congress candidate is Mr. Kantilal Bhuria, who is a sitting member of the Lok Sabha and a Union minister of state. He is being opposed by Mr. Dileep Singh Bhuria of the BJP. Originally, Dileep Singh Bhuria was a trusted Congress leader, who was elected to the Lok Sabha on the Congress ticket. In 2004, on being denied a Congress ticket, he joined the BJP and was rewarded with the Chairmanship of the “National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes”. Later, he left the BJP and joined the “Gondwana Gantantra Party” — a tribal political outfit. He became its national President but left it to re-join the BJP. He is now contesting from this tribal seat. The very fact that the BJP has chosen to sponsor a habitual defector like Mr. Dileep Singh Bhuria speaks volumes for the limited choice the party had. Still, the BJP is confident that its nominee will make it to the Lok Sabha.

On April 30, Guna and Gwalior are also going to the polls. The outcome of the polls in these two constituencies will indicate the extent of the influence the Royal Scindia family still wields in these two constituencies, which were once a part of the Gwalior princely state.

From Guna, Union minister of state Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia is seeking a third term. His aunt — his father's sister — Ms. Yashodhararaje Scindia is contesting from Gwalior. Ms. Scindia was, earlier, a member of the assembly. She was also a minister for some time. Later, she was elected to the Lok Sabha in a bye-election.

Though nobody doubts Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia's victory, yet he has not shown any complacency in electioneering. He is aware that out of eight segments of Guna constituency, five have elected BJP legislators.

From the days of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia, the Scindia family is divided between the Congress and the BJP. While the Rajmata joined the anti-Congress forces in 1967, her son Mr. Madhavrao Scindia joined the Congress. Rajmata's daughter Ms. Yashodhararaje joined the BJP while Jyotiraditya, following on the footsteps of his father, chose to be with the Congress.

Among other constituencies which go to the polls on April 30 are Bhind and Morena. From Morena, the BJP has fielded its state President Narendra Singh Tomar. His Congress opponent is Mr. Ramniwas Rawat. The BSP also wields considerable influence in the area. Therefore, there is every possibility of the contest becoming a three-cornered one in Morena.

The contest in the Bhind reserved constituency has assumed considerable importance because the Congress has fielded Dr. Bhagirath Prasad, a former IAS officer. He, incidentally, is the third IAS officer of the state to enter the electoral fray. The other two were Mr. SC Verma and Mr. MN Buch. A former chief secretary, Mr. SC Verma was elected to the Lok Sabha on a BJP ticket from Bhopal for several terms. Mr. Buch contested as an Independent from Betul and lost by a narrow margin.

Mr. Prasad was the Vice Chancellor of the Indore University when the Congress decided to field him from Bhind. He is facing tough opposition from the BJP and the BSP.

Three seats of the Bundelkhand region are also going to the polls. They are Sagar, Damoh and Tikamgarh. Bundelkhand is the most backward region of Madhya Pradesh. It is still dominated by feudal elements. No party can flourish without the support of the feudal lords.

Just on the eve of elections, several feudal lords — the self-styled Rajas — have quit the Congress and joined the BJP. This is going to affect the fortunes of the Congress nominees.

Perhaps the most interesting and colourful election is being fought in Rajgarh where former chief minister Mr. Digvijay Singh is making an effort to defeat his brother Laxman Singh, who is trying to seek another term in the Lok Saba.#