New Delhi [India], April 25 : Khajuraho, one of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh will go to polls on in the second phase of General elections.
Bharatiya Janata Party has yet again fielded its Madhya Pradesh chief, VD Sharma from Khajuraho. He will face All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) candidate RB Prajapati, who has received support from the INDIA bloc. Prajapati is a former IAS officer.
Khajuraho parliamentary seat was the only constituency assigned to the Samajwadi Party, a member of the INDIA bloc, as part of a seat-sharing deal with the Congress. But as the SP candidate Meera Yadav's nomination was rejected by the Election Commission of India, the INDIA bloc decided to extend its support to Prajapati.
Meera Yadav's nomination was rejected on April 5 due to lack of a signature at one place and not having an updated voter list.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, VD Sharma defeated Congress' Maharani Kavita Singh Natiraja with a margin of 4,92,382 votes.
In 2014, Nagendra Singh of the BJP defeated Raja Pateria of the Congress with a margin of 2,47,490 votes.
Sharma, Madhya Pradesh BJP chief, exuded confidence in winning all 29 seats in the state.
"I am confident that we will win the 29 seats on which candidates have been announced by the party," he said.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress has expressed pleasure over the INDIA bloc extending its support to All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) candidate Prajapati for the Khajuraho parliamentary.
"It feels good to support the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) and the reason for this is that it was formed by Indian freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose in 1939. Due to similar ideology, effort to save democracy in the present times, having similar ideological convention and political commitment, it is a natural alliance of AIFB and Congress Party," Madhya Pradesh Congress Chief Mukesh Nayak said.
Khajuraho constituency has eight assemblies -- Chandla, Rajnaga, Pawai, Gunnaor, Panna, Vijayraghavgarh, Murwara and Bahoriband.
Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh are being conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling was held on April 19. The next three phases will conducted on April 26, May 7 and May 13. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Madhya Pradesh has a total of 29 Lok Sabha constituencies, making it the sixth-largest state in terms of parliamentary representation. Out of these, 10 seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates, while the remaining 19 are unreserved.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the BJP secured a massive victory in Madhya Pradesh, winning 28 out of the 29 seats. Congress managed to win only one seat.