Sushma Swaraj to contest Bhopal seat

NEW DELHI: BJP���S deputy Rajya Sabha leader Sushma Swaraj will be the BJP���s candidate from Bhopal, replacing former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kailash Joshi. Efforts are now on to convince two more party heavyweights, M Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley, to enter the electoral fray so as give a fillip to txhe party���s prospects.

Ms Swaraj, who had initially decided to rivet her attention on campaigning for the party in the ensuing electoral battle, has now been persuaded by Mr L K Advani to enter the fray herself. Bhopal has, over the past couple of decades, been transformed into some sort of a saffron stronghold, and Ms Swaraj, it is being argued, could still emerge as one of the star campaigners.

Mr Naidu���s name has been doing the rounds as one of the probable candidates from Nellore, which has, post-delimitation, become a general constituency. Mr Jaitley���s name, on the other hand, is being pushed by the BJP���s Delhi unit as the candidate for New Delhi. It is being argued, his candidature would lift BJP���s prospects in not just the New Delhi but in all the seven seats in the Capital.