BHOPAL: Former Indian skipper Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi who is the Congress (I) nominee from Bhopal is engaged in a tough fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sushil Chandra Verma who won in the last elections by more than 100000 votes.
Both Pataudi and Verma are contesting the second elections in their career but the difference is that while the Congress (I) nominee last contested in 1971 from Haryana his BJP rival first fought less than two years ago.
Pataudi who eared fame as a cricket captain later switched on to modeling and also presents the ‘monthly “sports channel!” video Cassette. However by agreeing to become the Congress (I) candidate from Bhopal the Tiger or Nawab as he is popularly known here is trying his luck in yet another career.
Asked if he would continue to be in politics even if he did not win the Nawab said it would depend on the congressmen who had brought him to Bhopal.
The BJP nominee on the other hand was a former bureaucrat who held the post of the chief secretary to the Madhya Pradesh government before joining the BJP just before the last parliamentary elections.
Wherever he goes the Congress (I) nominee has been getting good response from the people but he himself does not know whether this will be translated into votes.
In the last elections an independent candidate Raoof Khan had polled around 100000 votes and this was one of the major factors for the defeat of the then Congress (I) nominee K N Pradhan at the hands of Verma.
This time the Congress (I) is hopeful of getting a substantial chunk of the Muslim vote ultimately leading the Nawab to victory.
Apart from these two contestants the 36 contestants here include Mahipal Singh of Samajwadi Janata Party and Swami Agnivesh of the Janata Dal.
Those who have campaigned for the Nawab include former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah Matinee idols Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu are also expected to canvass.
Among the Cong-I’s star campaigners, who will be Visiting the constituency to drum up support for their nominee, party president Rajiv Gandhi is scheduled to ad- dress a public Meeting here on May 12, and state party chief Arjun Singh is also expected to campaign.
Film actress Shabana Azmi is also scheduled to campaign in this constituency for Janata Dal nominee Swami Agnivesh with whom she had been associated in the
anti-Narmada Dam movement in Gujarat. Swami Agnivesh is known for the work done by him among the Bhopal gas victims and he expects them to support him in the battle at the hustings. There are over 1100000 voters in this constituency which comprises the districts of Bhopal Sehore and part of Dewas district.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 17, 1991
