More than the question as to who would be fielded against senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in case he contests 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the question that baffles the BJP is which constituency will he contest from.
A few days ago, the former chief minister announced that he would contest Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from Madhya Pradesh and that he would not contest 2013 assembly elections. Later, on Sunday, he tweeted, "No, I would contest parliamentary elections if my party desires but there is no question of contesting assembly elections".
Why the BJP is apprehensive about Digvijaya Singh's constituency in 2014 Lok Sabha elections stems from his own words that he was willing to contest the elections from any seat except Rajgarh.
In 2009, Digvijaya Singh's confidant Narayan Singh Amlabe was fielded from Rajgarh on Congress ticket and he defeated the BJP nominee and Digvijaya Singh's brother Laxman Singh by about 25,000 votes.
Rajgarh is the traditional Lok Sabha seat Digvijaya Singh contested and won thrice. As far as assembly elections are concerned, except once when he contested from Chachora, he contested from Raghogarh assembly constituency.
He did not contest 2008 assembly and 2009 Lok Sabha elections in view of his resolution he took at the time of 2003 assembly elections that he would not occupy any post for ten years if his party faced defeat in the elections. He won 2003 assembly elections against BJP nominee Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who rose to become the chief minister of the state later, from Raghogarh but the Congress lost to the BJP after ten years of its rule.
{{/usCountry}}He did not contest 2008 assembly and 2009 Lok Sabha elections in view of his resolution he took at the time of 2003 assembly elections that he would not occupy any post for ten years if his party faced defeat in the elections. He won 2003 assembly elections against BJP nominee Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who rose to become the chief minister of the state later, from Raghogarh but the Congress lost to the BJP after ten years of its rule.
{{/usCountry}}BJP sources said undoubtedly the party did not have any strong candidate against Digvijaya Singh for Rajgarh Lok Sabha seat but if he was fielded from any other constituency, the party would have to rethink over its strategy against Raja of Raghogarh.
The state Congress media in charge Manak Agarwal said it was to be decided by the party as to from where Digvijaya Singh would contest the elections.
State BJP chief spokesperson Vijesh Lunawat said Digvijaya Singh's announcement that he would not contest 2013 assembly elections made it evident that he was confident about the fate of his party. As far as 2014 Lok Sabha elections were concerned, it did not matter to the BJP as to from which parliamentary constituency he would contest the elections. The BJP would again have upper hand in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.