Bhopal, Nov 06: Bahujan Samaj Party today released a list of 160 candidates, which included both its sitting MLAs, 11 women and 12 Muslims, for Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. Sitting MLAs I M P Verma and Vidyapati Patel have been fielded from Mouganj and Gurh constituencies respectively, according to the list issued by state BSP president and central party observer Azad Gandhi.
The two other MLAs who had been elected on BSP tickets in the 1998 assembly polls, Phool Singh Baraiyya and Sukhla Kushwaha, were expelled for anti-party activities recently. Baraiyya formed Samata Samaj Party while Kushwaha joined Samanta Dal.
Former Congress leaders Ramashanker Singh and Jagdamba Prasad Nigam have been nominated as BSP candidates for Lahar and Chhattarpur seats, while former BSP MLA Jaikaran Saket has been fielded from Devtalab and Ramlakhan Singh would contest from Rampur Baghelan.
Pradeep Singh has been pitted against assembly speaker Srinivas Tiwari from Mangawan.
BSP supremo Mayawati had announced at a party workers' rally here yesterday that the party would contest 160 of the 230 assembly seats in the state. Bureau Report