There are rumors circulating in the political circles of Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh that Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav may surprise everyone by nominating Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan from Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency to go up against state BJP President Vishnu Dutt Sharma in the upcoming polls.
If the rumors are to be believed, SP is considering putting the Bollywood actor against Mr. Sharma in Khajuraho to generate excitement for the INDIA alliance candidate and make it a tough competition for Mr. Sharma in the elections.
Congress has decided to leave the Khajuraho LS constituency to SP as part of their seat sharing agreement.
According to a senior leader of SP, “The Bollywood actor will not only bring glamour to the election in Khajuraho, but also create buzz around him, making it challenging for the BJP stalwart in the polls.”
The Bachchan family has strong connections with Madhya Pradesh. Jaya Bhaduri, wife of Amitabh Bachchan, was born and raised in Bhopal. Jaya Bhaduri was recently re-elected to the Rajya Sabha as an SP candidate.
As per the agreement between Congress and SP in Madhya Pradesh, Congress will field candidates in 28 LS seats in Madhya Pradesh, leaving one seat for SP.
Mr. Sharma is seeking re-election from Khajuraho in the polls. He expressed confidence in retaining the seat with a significant margin in the upcoming LS polls.
The spokesman of MP unit of SP, Yash Bharti, mentioned that the party leadership has not yet announced its candidate for Khajuraho. He stated, “The candidate for Khajuraho may be announced by SP supremo within 4-5 days. We cannot confirm if Mr. Bachchan or any other candidate will be nominated from the seat by the party.”
SP has its base in Bundelkhand region of MP and for the first time, fielded candidates in 52 seats, mostly in Bundelkhand region, in the November Assembly polls in MP, though they did not win in any of those seats.
Khajuraho will go to polls in the second phase of LS elections on April 26.