Union Minister, Seven-Time MP Faggan Singh Kulaste Vying For Another Term From Mandla (Photo on X Faggan Singh Kulaste (Modi Ka Parivar) @fskulaste)

As the BJP released the first list of candidates, the party announced 24 names out of a total of 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh. The party has picked the incumbent MP Faggan Singh Kulaste for the Mandla constituency. Mr Kulaste is currently serving as the union minister of state for rural development and steel. The veteran BJP leader has been a seven-time MP from the constituency.

Born in Barbati, Mandla in Madhya Pradesh, Mr Kulaste has completed his MA and LL. B from his hometown. He has held several important positions in the party including his two terms as the state BJP chief. He has also served as the national president of the BJP Scheduled Tribes Morcha for two terms.

The voters of the constituency are well aware of Mr Kulaste as he has been representing them for more than two decades. The seat had been firm with the BJP except in 2009 in which, the Congress’s Basori Singh Masram secured the victory while the Mr Kulaste trailed behind.

Notably, though Mr Kulaste enjoyed decades of a successful career, he had lost the 2023 Madhya Pradesh assembly election when fielded against Congress candidate Chainsingh Warkade despite contesting as a Union Minister. Interestingly, the Congress party’s vote share has also increased in the Lok Sabha constituency during the 2019 general election.

However, with the BJP fielding the seven-time MP, there are speculations that the anti-incumbency could potentially affect the veteran BJP leader”s performance in the upcoming election. As a leader who has been engaging with society by being part of many social and cultural initiatives, the party trusted Mr Kulaste by giving him a ticket for the eight-time from the same seat.