109 candidates file papers for 7 LS seats in MP covered in 2nd phase polling on April 26

As many as 56 candidates, including INDIA bloc nominee Meera Yadav of the Samajwadi Party from Khajuraho, filed their nominations on Thursday for the second phase which will cover seven Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, taking the number of contestants who have submitted their papers to 109, an official said.

Thursday (April 4) was the last day of filing nominations for the seven seats in the state covered in the second round of voting on April 26.

The Congress has left the Khajuraho seat for the Samajwadi Party, its ally and a constituent of the INDIA alliance, in Madhya Pradesh which has 29 parliamentary constituencies. She is pitted against a powerful opponent, state BJP president VD Sharma, who is seeking a second term from the seat. Sharma won the seat with a margin of more than 4.5 lakh votes in 2019.

''Fifty-six candidates filed their papers on the last day of filing nominations for the second phase, taking their number to 109,'' state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anupam Rajan said in a press statement.

These nominations will now be scrutinised and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is April 8.

Betul, Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa and Narmadapuram will vote on April 26.

As the nominations closed for the second phase, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav of the BJP and state Congress president Jitu Patwari traded charges on pre-poll promises made by their respective parties.

Drumming up support for BJP's Betul candidate Durga Das Uike, Yadav targeted Congress veteran Kamal Nath, who was the chief minister of the state from December 2018 to March 2020.

Addressing a gathering, the CM said three months were enough to accomplish any work.

Yadav accompanied Uike when he filed his papers from Betul, a seat reserved for tribals.

Speaking at a gathering in Rewa before Congress candidate Neelam Abhya Mishra filed her nomination papers, MPCC president Patwari said Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode to power in 2014 on ''false promises''.

''The Prime Minister had been making false promises which have now been dubbed as 'Modi ki guarantee','' he alleged.

CM Yadav accompanied BJP's Narmadapuram candidate Darshan Singh Choudhary when he filed his papers.

At Damoh, BJP nominee Rahul Singh Lodhi, accompanied by his party's state chief Sharma and Madhya Pradesh minister Prahlad Patel, submitted his nomination to election officials.

Madhya Pradesh will vote in four phases starting from April 19.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)