In five seats of Madhya Pradesh, the fight is within families | Madhya Pradesh Election News

BHOPAL: There are five assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh where no matter which party wins, it stays within the family though not without heartburn.
The 2023 assembly polls, already being likened to Madhya Pradesh’s ‘Mahabharat’, pits brother against brother, an uncle against a nephew, a ‘Jeth’ vs a Bahu and a samdhi-samdhan.

In Hoshangabad, two brothers in their seventies are crossing swords on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Former Speaker of the assembly, Sitasharan Sharma, has been fielded by theBJP against his elder brother, Congress candidate Girija Shankar Sharma.
In 2008, Girija Shankar contested the assembly election on a BJP ticket from Hoshangabad and won by 25,097 votes. In the next election, BJP fielded his younger brother Sitasharan, who won and was elected Speaker. But when the party fielded Sitasharan again in 2018, Girija Shankar resigned in protest. He later rejoined BJP on the promise that he would be given an important role in the party.
Sitasharan won the 2018 election but Girija Shankar did not get the role he was looking for. Last month, he quit the BJP and met PCC chief Kamal Nath. Last Thursday, the Congress fielded him from Hoshangabad. Two days later, the BJP pitted Sitasharan against him.
“Before giving me the ticket, my party (Congress) asked what will you do if your brother is fielded against you,” Girija Shankar said. “I said that if you give me the ticket before he gets his, then I will not withdraw. But if he (Sitasharan) gets his candidature from BJP before I get my ticket, I will not contest,” he said.
Sitasharan said: “The election in Hoshangabad will be like any other. Here the fight is not against a person but between two political ideologies.”
In Deotalab assembly seat in Rewa district, Speaker Girish Gautam is being challenged by his young nephew Padmesh Gautam, who is fielded by Congress.
Girish, now a four-time MLA, shot into prominence when he defeated former Speaker and Congress stalwart Shriniwas Tiwari from Mangawan in Rewa. Shriniwas was famous as the ‘White Tiger’, respected and feared in equal measure in political circles. Gautam, Speaker of the current assembly, brought down the White Tiger in 2003 by a margin of 26,930 votes.
Watch MP elections 2023: BJP leaders seen fighting at Bhupender Yadav’s office for not getting tickets