BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla Pays Price For Sidhi Urinating Incident, Denied Ticket To Contest MP Assembly Polls

BHOPAL: In a strategic move, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chosen two-time sitting MP Riti Pathak to represent the Sidhi Assembly constituency in the upcoming state assembly elections, replacing the veteran leader and four-time sitting MLA, Kedarnath Shukla. Shukla's exclusion is believed to be a consequence of a disgraceful incident that transpired in Sidhi a few months ago, causing nationwide condemnation when a video of one of his supporters, Pravesh Shukla, urinating on the face of a tribal man named Dashmat Rawat, went viral on social media.

The incident not only provided ammunition for the opposition Congress to criticize the BJP on the issue of tribal atrocities but also compelled Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to engage in damage control ahead of the impending Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.

By replacing Shukla with Pathak in Sidhi, the BJP aims to alleviate the resentment among the tribal populace in the region that escalated after the unfortunate incident.

Back then, CM Chouhan invited Dashmat Rawat to his residence in Bhopal, personally expressing regret for the deplorable act committed by the BJP worker. The house of accused Pravesh Shukla, who was booked under the National Security Act (NSA), was publicly demolished after the shocking video circulated on social media.

It's worth noting that on Monday, the ruling BJP revealed its second list of 39 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a massive gathering of BJP workers in Bhopal. The list includes four party MPs and three Union Ministers.

Among the notable mentions, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar is set to contest from the Dimni seat, while Minister of State (MoS) for Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel and Minister of State for Rural Development and Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste are slated to contest from Narsingpur and Niwas, respectively.

In a related development, senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya has been nominated by the party to contest from the Indore-1 constituency for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election scheduled to be held later this year.

On September 13, the BJP Central Election Committee (CEC) convened to discuss the Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections at the party's headquarters in the national capital. The meeting, attended by PM Modi, BJP President JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, and other members of the election committee, along with Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, deliberated on crucial election strategies.

The BJP had previously unveiled its first list of candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections on August 17, disclosing the names of 39 candidates. With this latest update, the BJP has now declared candidates for 78 out of the 230 seats in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly. The state is slated to hold Assembly polls later this year, through which it will elect representatives from 230 Assembly constituencies.