Bhopal: Ruling BJP and opposition Congress are under tremendous pressure over bypolls in Chitrakoot and Mungawali assembly seats, the date for which could be announced by the Election Commission (ECI) anytime soon. The seats fell vacant after the death of Congress legislators Prem Singh and Mahendra Singh Kalukhera this month. As it is the last bypoll, this would be a litmus test for chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and will show the trend before the next assembly elections in November 2018.For the Congress, it will be a test of political influence of two stalwarts. Prem Singh represented Chitrakoot assembly seat in Satna district, leader of Opposition Ajay Singh's area of influence. Mahendra Singh Kalukhera's seat Mungawali is an assembly constituency part of Guna-Shivpuri, Lok Sabha seat of Jyotiraditya Scindia. The BJP would not leave any stones unturned to grab seats held by the Congress party while the party in Opposition would go all out to hold on to its bastions.Unfortunately for the Congress, there is no sympathy factor in Mungawali because Mahendra Singh Kalukheda's two daughters live in the US and sources in the party said they don't seem interested in contesting the bypolls.The 2013 assembly poll winner from the seat and senior Congress leader Kalukheda died this month. The BJP candidate, Deshraj Singh Yadav, who lost polls, had passed away a year ago. Yadav, who had won the seat in 2008, suffered a heart attack while giving a speech at a public meeting in 2016. Both the Congress and the BJP would have to look for a new face in Mungawali.The situation is complicated for both parties in Chitrakoot, which was represented by Congress MLA for three terms, Prem Singh, who died in May this year. Prem Singh won Chitrakoot in 1998, 2003 and 2013. As he was a bachelor, the Congress cannot count on the sympathy factor by fielding a kin. In last assembly election, the BJP had fielded Surendra Singh Gaharwar, who had lost against Prem Singh by a margin of 12,000 votes.State BJP leaders said the party could field a retired DSP Pannalal Awasthi in Chitrakoot. The question that arises now is whether the BJP does not have anyone from its own rank and file to fight the Congress on this turf. Earlier, too, the BJP grabbed the Congress candidates and fielded them whenever it was not sure of its own cadre winnability. The BJP snatched Bhagirath Prasad for Bhind, Uday Pratap Singh for Hoshangabad, Sanjay Pathak for Vijayraghogarh and Narayan Tripathi for Maihar.

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