Millers, tillers, miners – all in the mix in MP's poll race

NEW DELHI: Here’s a little-noted fact of the closely contested Madhya Pradesh elections — prominent in the list of candidates, whether big names or little-known aspirants, are big farmers, miners, oil millers and fishery owners.

The state has 70% of its workforce employed in agriculture and allied sectors. So, candidate profiles have followed the economy profile — 134 of the 167 re-contesting MLAs have declared agriculture as their main source of income.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has dabbled in floriculture & agriculture. His son Kartikey Singh Chouhan manages Sunder Dairy in Vidisha, which boasts over 200 black-and-white Holstein-Friesian cows. Congress candidate Nilay Daga, an oil miller, and BJP MLA Moti Kashyap, who is into fish farming, say they have the advantage of knowing the pulse of MP’s rural community.


Kashyap does fish farming on 20 acre of pond in Katni district. “My wife owns the farm but I manage it. It’s a good way to remain connected with the farmers,” he says. A candidate from the Betul constituency, Daga’s facility crushes 500 tonne soyabean per day. He says rural employment is the key issue. Gourishanker Bisen, agriculture minister of MP, cultivates 20 acres of land. He is contesting from Balaghat, a Naxal-affected district of Madhya Pradesh.

A total of 2,899 candidates are in the fray for MP’s 230 seats. Analysis of 2,716 candidate profiles by the Association for Democratic Reforms shows 650 candidates are crorepatis. The richest contesting MLA, Sanjay Satyendra Pathak, is a mining baron. His agro-manufacture and seeds businesses, says Congress nominee from Depalpur, Vishal Patel, help him understand ground realities in MP’s villages. Rice miller Tamlal Raghuraj Sahare from Balaghat’s Katangi assembly constituency is also a farmer.

This Congress leader is also a rice cultivator, owning 25 acres of land. “I know uninterrupted electricity supply or reimbursement of crop insurance or irrigation for the second crop are key issues,” he says. Across MP, there are candidates from both parties that have their ear to the ground, because that’s where they are making their living from.