Siddhu forgets it's election, not laughter show

Former cricketer-turn-comedian Navjot Singh Siddhu is also a politician who is campaigning for BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

But he forgets that he is not sitting with Shekhar Suman. His slips of tongue are now costing the BJP. He first created controversy at an election meeting in Narsinghpur where he told the gathering that if they vote for another candidate, it will be like eating 'gau-maans' (beef).

An FIR was registered against Siddhu for hurting religious sentiments. Election Commission (EC) has also issued him notice. He is also accused of luring voters by objectionable speech focusing on 'paap' (sin). Siddhu otherwise draws crowd wherever he goes.

Is it BJP winning or Congress losing in Madhya Pradesh?

With just a week to go for the state elections, both the parties are making claims of win in the elections but the million dollar question is which party seems in a better position.

Unfortunately there are no clear answers as there is no wave in this election. Congress had the initial advantage when it announced the candidates but the lists that came out later had names of candidates who stand no chance of winning.

The Congress could have cashed in on the anti-incumbency but poor selection of contestants will do it in. Take a loot at Bhopal where it almost threw away its chances by selection of weak candidates.

Nasir Islam had lost the municipal corporation election from the ward and was given ticket against Dhruv Narayan Singh. A forgotten man, Deepchand Yadav, was made to contest against Umashankar Gupta. In Huzur, it first named Makhmal Meena as candidate and then put up his brother.

The only strong candidate is Sunil Sood against BJP's Vishwas Sarang. Vibha Patel is also finding it tough against former Chief Minister Babulal Gaur. The candidate for the Berasia seat is also not a big name.

In Bhopal, there was anger against Umashankar Gupta, Babulal Guar and controversy over Jitendra Daga's name but the Congress failed to make the most of it. This is the story in many other seats outside Bhopal and it may cost Congress dearly.

Bichhu.com launches Hindi newspaper, predicts hung Assembly in Madhya Pradesh

For a state of the size of Madhya Pradesh, that has a population of 6 crore, there are hardly any fortnightly or weekly papers. This is more surprising because almost the entire state speaks a single language but the periodicals fail to survive for long.

Now with elections in sight, veteran journalist Awadhesh Bajaj has launched the newsaper Bichhu dot Com. Almost a year back he had started the website of the same name. Bajaj is a seasoned journalist who has edited many papers and is capable of resisting political and bureaucratic pressures but bringing out a regular paper is no easy task.

Sometime back the MBD group took out a weekly paper that later became a magazine but failed to survive. The first issue published on high quality glazed paper (all papers start with glazed ones and after a few issues go to recycled paper).

The current newspaper issue has hard-hitting news stories and predicts that the state will have a hung Assembly. It gives nearly 105 seats of BJP, 85-90 to Congress and 17 to BSP. The gossip and semi-nude photographs of models are the other attraction of this paper. The newspaper is priced at Rs 5.

Avadhesh Bajaj is a seasoned journalist but is known for his temperament. Time will tell if the paper completes even a year, given the history of such publications in Madhya Pradesh. Still, best wishes to Bajaj and Bichhu.com team for the success of the newspaper.

The conduct of Hindi newspapers in Madhya Pradesh

First the contestant is approached and asked for money, straightaway. If he refuses to pay the amount, negative reports are published.

Each day the candidate is targeted until he gets disturbed by the negative coverage and decides to pay. An evening newspaper 'Sandhya Prakash' is doing it every day.

But other Hindi newspapers are not far behind. In some major newspapers, it is time to make money. The marketing teams are busy and seeking full packages for 'entire coverage, photos, positive news'.

The highest circulated Hindi paper of Bhopal didn't publish report of flop meeting of BJP president Rajnath Singh. It didn't publish the news or the photo of empty ground. Was it because there was already a deal?

Misbehaving minister face the law

Minister for Tourism and Sports Tukoji Rao Pawar was arrested and sent to jail for misbehaving with a government official Sanjana Jain.

Though such an action was impossible under the normal circumstances, the model code of conduct ensured that the misbehaving didn't get away with his action. The BJP candidate from Dewas had threated Jain, the returning officer and the entire scene was recorded.

Pawar was accompanied by another BJP leader, Phool Chand Verma, who is contesting from Sonkutch. Election Commission took prompt note of the threat after TV channels reported the news.

The case was registered on Jain's complaint and after his arrest, Pawar was sent to jail. He had reached the officer demanding rejection of the nomination papers of a Congress candidate.

Will BJP lose due to poor candidate selection in MP?

The discontent is already on the street. BJP workers staged a protest at the party office in Bhopal.

With weak candidates like Dhruv Narayan Singh, Jitendra Daga and Vishwas Sarang, the party has already lost it, in the capital of Madhya Pradesh, even before a fight. Dhurvnarayan doesn't have a standing and is considered a sociate, rather than a politician. Alok Sharma, who is contesting from Bhopal North is also not a strong candidate compared to his rival Arif Aqueel.

Jitendra Daga got ticket just because of his closeness with Sushma Swaraj. Sarang is still considered a junior. One can say that BJP has handed over these seats of Congress.

Are Dhruvnarayan, Vishwas Sarang, Jitendra Daga winnable candidates?

Besides, several sitting MLAs that were unpopular have been again fielded. Despite poor performance, State Minister Kamal Patel (Harda) and many other MLAs who are all set to lose due to anger against them in their constituencies, but they have been given tickets.

Already, Uma Bharati's Bharatiya Janshakti is giving sleepless nights to Shivraj Singh Chouhan. But repeating candidates like Kamal Patel, Narottam Mishra, Anup Mishra and iving ticket to losers like Surendra Patwa, the party seems to have dug its own grave. Now, it's interesting to see whether the Congress is able to make use of the opportunity.