“I didn’t have even 1 percent wish to contest elections,” Vijayvargiya said, while addressing a party event in the poll-bound state on September 26. 

The BJP veteran noted that he was in a “state of confusion”, as he believed that he, along with his MLA-son Akash Vijayvargiya, who defeated Congress’ Ashwin Joshi in his debut election in 2018, would not be getting the party’s tickets together. 

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“I was of the belief that I and Akash (his son) would not be getting tickets together. He has created his own niche in the city with hard work. Why should I contest polls? Because of me he should not face political harm. This was going on in my mind as a father. But the party’s command is the party’s command,” he said.

Akash currently represents the Indore-3 seat in the state legislative assembly. 

Later, Vijayvargiya was quoted by news agency ANI as saying that the BJP told him that he “shouldn’t refuse” the work that the party is entrusting him with.  

‘You will have to do it’, I was told. But I was surprised when the ticket for Indore-1 was declared…We are soldiers of the party. We will follow whatever the party orders,” he added.

Notably, the BJP has so far named eight central leaders, including three Union ministers and four MPs, for the high-stake electoral battle in Madhya Pradesh later this year. 

The Union ministers who have been named include Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste, whereas, the four MPs are Rakesh Singh, Ganesh Singh, Reeti Pathak and Uday Pratap Singh.

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Updated: 27 Sep 2023, 04:15 PM IST