BJP Hands Key Post to Ex-Congress Lok Sabha Candidate Mona Sustani in MP Women's Front Overhaul

Former Rajgarh contestant joins the saffron party's state executive as General Secretary; the new committee includes seven vice presidents and eight state ministers drawn from across Madhya Pradesh.

A Surprise Elevation

 In a move that has set political circles buzzing in Madhya Pradesh, Mona Sustani — who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket — has been appointed General Secretary of the BJP Mahila Morcha's state executive committee. The announcement came on Saturday when State President Advocate Ashwini Paranjape Rajwade unveiled the newly constituted team, pulling in women representatives from districts spread across the length and breadth of the state.

The appointment is being read as a signal of the party's intent to reward those who have crossed over from the opposition and demonstrated organisational commitment.

Congress Roots, Saffron Future

Sustani's political biography is anything but linear. Her father-in-law, Gulabsingh Sustani, won two terms as an MLA from the Rajgarh Assembly segment and served for an extended period as chairman of MP Agro under the Digvijay Singh government. Mona herself was a prominent voice in the Digvijay Singh faction within Congress — a background that makes her current placement in the BJP's women's wing all the more politically significant.

She has previously held elected posts at the zila panchayat and janpad panchayat levels, giving her ground-level administrative experience ahead of her organisational role.

Defeat That Preceded a Switch

In the 2019 general elections, Sustani contested from Rajgarh parliamentary constituency on a Congress ticket and lost to BJP's Rodmal Nagar by a margin exceeding two lakh votes. A year after that electoral setback, she formally joined the BJP at an event in Bhopal where then-party National President JP Nadda presided over her induction in March 2023.

Since switching sides, Sustani has remained active at the grassroots level through an organisation called Lalchunar, running campaigns against the Natra tradition in the Rajgarh region for the past five years.

New Executive Takes Shape

The fresh executive unveiled by Paranjape Rajwade reflects a deliberate push for geographic spread, with office-bearers drawn from Gwalior, Panna, Dewas, Shahdol, Barwani, Ashoknagar and Sagar among other districts.

Seven women have been elevated to the post of Vice President: Neelima Shinde (Gwalior), Asha Gupta (Panna), Maya Patel (Dewas), Shalini Sarawagi (Shahdol), Advocate Anjana Patel (Barwani), Vibha Srivastava (Ashoknagar), and Dr Yakriti Jadiya (Sagar).

Eight women have been named State Ministers within the Morcha: Shashi Patel (Mandla), Khushboo Gupta (Gwalior), Reena Dandotiya (Morena), Mamta Malviya (Betul), Dr Anjali Rayzada (Gwalior), Charulata Yadav (Khandwa), Seema Jaiswal (Singrauli) and Pramila Yadav (Ujjain).

Financial and Administrative Backbone

On the administrative side, CA Nidhi Bang of Indore has been named Treasurer. Archana Agrawal (Jabalpur) and Purnima Tiwari (Rewa) will serve as Co-Treasurers. Bhavna Singh (Bhopal) takes charge as Office Secretary, supported by co-secretaries Vimla Tiwari (Bhopal) and Lalita Purtiya (Narmadapuram).

Communications and Research Portfolio

The new team places clear emphasis on outreach. Harsha Thakur (Khandwa) has been named Media In-charge, with Priyasha Urmaliya (Satna) as Co-Media In-charge. Smriti Jain (Narsinghpur) will handle Social Media, assisted by Sarika Upadhyay (Gwalior) and Advocate Gayatri Singh Thakur (Bhopal). Sudha Sukhyani (Indore) leads IT, with Rashmi Pandey (Bhopal) and Kiran Bhadoria (Gwalior) as co-in-charges.

On the policy and research front, Dr Sakshi Bhardwaj (Bhopal) has been given charge, supported by Suman Singh (Sidhi) and Indu Chaudhary (Sagar). Training responsibilities go to Shivani Adsapurkar (Indore City), with Dr Vandana Arya (Narsinghpur) and Chetna Sharma (Shajapur) assisting.

What This Signals

According to party sources, the expansion of the Women's Front executive in Madhya Pradesh is part of a broader BJP effort to widen its female leadership base ahead of future electoral cycles. Sustani's appointment, in particular, is being viewed as a message to potential defectors from Congress that organisational rewards await those who commit to the party structure.

The new team's geographic diversity — spanning Singrauli in the east to Barwani in the west — suggests the Morcha intends to build a presence well beyond its traditional urban and semi-urban strongholds, a development that carries weight in a state where Madhya Pradesh BJP news has increasingly centred on rural outreach and women's representation as strategic priorities.