Arch rivals switch sides to enter poll fray from Badnawar Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh

The upcoming poll contest in Badnawar Assembly seat of Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district has turned interesting this time as two arch rivals from the BJP and the Congress have switched sides to take on each other for the third time. The main contest in the seat is between BJP leader and State Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Minister Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon (51) and Congress candidate Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat (72).

The upcoming poll contest in Badnawar Assembly seat of Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district has turned interesting this time as two arch rivals from the BJP and the Congress have switched sides to take on each other for the third time.

Locals have been animatedly discussing this by coining a new phrase - "Ummeedwar wahi, par party nayi" (same candidate, but with a new party).

The main contest in the seat is between BJP leader and State Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Minister Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon (51) and Congress candidate Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat (72).

The two leaders belong to the Rajput community and are facing each other for the third time in a row in the State Assembly polls scheduled on November 17.

Along with the Rajput community, people from tribal and Patidar communities also play an important role in deciding the poll result in this seat, which has nearly 2.21 lakh voters.

Mr. Dattigaon, considered close to Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, was among the 22 rebel MLAs who quit the Congress and resigned from Assembly membership in 2020 to join the BJP after Mr. Scindia joined the saffron party.