Indore: Though Bharatiya Janata Party is still in a dilemma over candidate selection for Indore Lok Sabha seat represented by Sumitra Mahajan eight times, the Congress announced the name of Pankaj Sanghvi as their candidate on Tuesday.
Sanghvi who rose through the ranks in student politics in Indore, had contested his first poll as a corporator in 1983. He was fielded against Mahajan in 1998 and lost to her by over 49,000 votes.
Sanghvi had contested for the Indore mayoral position in 2009 but had lost to BJP’s Krishna Murari Moghe by barely 4,000 votes.
He could not end his losing streak even in 2013 when he was named as an Assembly candidate.
Sanghvi was also a strong contender for a ticket in 2018 assembly polls but the party chose former MLA Satyanarayan Patel.
Sanghvi is also known as a millionaire politician who had even got film actor Salman Khan to do a road show for him when he contested for Indore mayor’s position in 2009.
Sanghvi is also known for a strong presence in social circles of Indore. This is perhaps the reason, the Congress party nominated him despite his string of electoral losses in the past.
Like Bhopal, Indore is also another saffron citadel in MP which BJP hasn’t lost since 1989.
Present MP Mahajan had recently announced that she won’t contest poll if the party was in any sort of dilemma over her
candidature.
Mahajan had reached New Delhi on Sunday and also met senior peaty leaders and reportedly forwarded her choices if her named wasn’t being considered for the seat.
Indore mayor Malini Gaud is expected to be the saffron party’s nominee.