Digvijaya Singh to contest from BJP bastion Bhopal: Kamal Nath

Bhopal, Mar 23: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Bhopal parliamentary constituency.

The decision, which was taken by the Congress' Central Election Committee on Saturday, was announced by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

"Digvijaya took his time and thought over my request, but later asked me, where should he contest from. I told him that he should contest from Bhopal, which he has agreed to," said Nath.

Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency, which was represented by Shankar Dayal Sharma in 1971-77 and 1980-1984, has been held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 1989.

Sharma had served as the President of India from 1992 to 1997. The Congress had last won the Bhopal seat in 1984.

Nath said, "I have a list of party candidates in my pocket but I can't disclose. However, I can make an announcement.

"I had requested Digvijaya Singh that you had been the chief minister for so long, and it doesn't suit you if you say that I will contest from Rajgarh (Digvijay's home turf)," he said.

The chief minister said he had asked Singh to contest from any other seat like Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur etc.

"As Singh told me to take a decision, I have offered him to contest from Bhopal," he said.

Singh, who had served as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh between 1993-2003, is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Bhopal constituency is represented by BJP's Alok Sanjar, who had won the seat in 2014 by a margin of 3.70 lakh votes. BJP stalwarts like Sushil Chandra Verma, Uma Bharati and Kailash Joshi had represented the seat in the past.

Former cricketer late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, scion of the erstwhile Bhopal State, had unsuccessfully contested from Bhopal on a Congress' ticket in 1991.

The constituency is spread over eight assembly segments, namely Berasia, Bhopal Uttar, Narela, Bhopal Dakshin-Paschhim, Bhopal Madhya, Govindpura, Huzur and Sehore