E-Paper
INDORE
One of the most prestigious constituencies of Madhya Pradesh, Indore seat is a prestige issue of BJP and particularly for the 5-time MP and former union minister Sumitra Mahajan.
One of the most prestigious constituencies of Madhya Pradesh, Indore seat is a prestige issue of BJP and particularly for the 5-time MP and former union minister Sumitra Mahajan.
NL Joshi of the Indian National Congress (INC) won this seat in 1952. KH Khadiwala of the INC in 1957. HF Daji won this seat as an Independent in 1962 and PC Sethi of the INC in 1967. PC Sethi again won this seat on the ticket of the Indian National Congress in 1971. Kalyan Jain of the BLD won this seat in1977 and PC Sethi of INCI in1980.
In 1998 parliamentary elections, Sumitra Mahajan of the BJP defeated Pankaj Sanghvi of the INC. In 1991, Sumitra Mahajan of the BJP defeated Lalit Jain of the INC by 81 thousand votes. In 1989 elections, again Sumitra Mahajan of the BJP defeated PC Sethi of the INC by 1.12 lakh votes. However, in 1984 PC Sethi of the INC had defeated RN Dharkar of the BJP by 91 thousand votes.
In the last parliamentary elections of 1999, Sumitra Mahajan of the BJP was re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha for the 5th term. On October 13, 1999 she was inducted into the Union Cabinet as the minister of state for Human Resource Development and continued to hold that position till June 30, 2002. She then moved on to become minister of state for Communication & Information Technology and finally into the ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Sumitra Mahajan has won five times from Indore on BJP ticket. PC Sethi has been the other prominent MP to be elected from Indore. He was Union minister for a number of years. He was also the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh during 1972-75.
Caste equation
Muslims constitute 12% of the voters here while the Jains are three per cent. the Scheduled Castes voters count 16% of the voters and have been playing crucial role in previous poll results. The Rajputs and Brahmins constitute around 7 per cent each of the population. Others in substantial numbers are Gujjars, Kurmis, Vaishyas. Chamars/Jatavs and Balais are prominent among the Scheduled Castes.
