The Congress has nominated Ashok Singh as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh. However, there is a growing question within the Congress and the political circles of Madhya Pradesh regarding the decision to select Ashok Singh despite several influential leaders of the Madhya Pradesh Congress. Despite his facing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections thrice, the Congress agreed on the name of Ashok Singh.
Ashok Singh contested the last three Lok Sabha polls against the BJP unsuccessfully- in 2009, in 2014 and in 2019. Despite these three consecutive defeats, Congress has nominated him as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha. Singh who is said to have some command over voters in the Gwalior-Chambal region has been a vocal critic of Jyotiraditya Scindia who left Congress to join the BJP.
Ashok Singh was chosen over Rahul Gandhi’s pick Meenakshi Natarajan. Other candidates who were in the fray were Arun Yadav and Kamleshwar Patel. Singh, hailing from Gwalior, is primarily recognized as a close associate of Digvijaya Singh.
After an extensive tenure as the State Treasurer of the Pradesh Congress, Singh has participated in four Lok Sabha elections from Gwalior. His first political appointment came during the Kamal Nath government when he was made the Apex Bank administrator. Ashok Singh stands out among Pradesh Congress leaders for fostering friendly relations with all party members. His father, Rajendra Singh, entered the political arena in 1971, eventually becoming a legislator and serving as the Public Works Minister in the Shyama Charan Shukla cabinet.
However, what distinguished him was his consistent opposition, described as “pathological,” towards the former party insider Jyotiraditya Scindia. He has often said that opposition to Scindia is in his DNA. This particular aspect of his political stance appears to have played a crucial role, especially considering the party’s efforts to reconstruct its presence in the Gwalior-Chambal region following Scindia’s departure and the defeat of prominent leaders in the recent assembly elections. Additionally, his OBC status further strengthened his candidacy.
