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Gwalior-Chambal, parts of Bundelkhand and central MP to elect 8 MPs on May 12
In the 2014 parliamentary elections all these seats except Guna went to the BJP which won 27 of the 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh.
Eight Lok Sabha seats spread across the Gwalior-Chambal region and parts of Bundelkhand and central Madhya Pradesh will go to polls on May 12 to decide the fate of 138 candidates including a Union minister.
As many as 14.40 million voters are expected to exercise their franchise in Madhya Pradesh which happens to be the sixth phase of polling in the country and third phase in the state.
The eight constituencies include four in Gwalior-Chambal region - Gwalior, Guna, Morena and Bhind (SC), one in Bundelkhand region- Sagar and three in central MP- Bhopal, Vidisha and Rajgarh.
Read: Full coverage of Lok Sabha elections 2019
In the 2014 parliamentary elections all these seats except Guna went to the BJP which won 27 of the 29 seats in the state.
In the state assembly elections in November last year, the BJP which then the ruling party suffered heavy losses in Gwalior-Chambal region where tension had run high after the after Supreme Court’s judgment on certain stringent provisions of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act earlier in the year.
Violence in Gwalior-Chambal region on April 2, 2018 during a bandh called by SC/ST organisations to protest the Supreme Court’s judgment claimed lives of seven people, including six of from the scheduled castes, turned the tide against the BJP.
Read: In Madhya Pradesh, Congress challenge is PM Modi’s popularity
During state assembly elections BJP’s strength was reduced to 7 seats from 20 in 2013 whereas Congress’ tally shot up to 26 from 12. BSP had to be content with just one seat out of the total 34 seats in the region. The Lok Sabha election will show if the BJP has regained its lost ground or not.
“Since victims of the violence were from the Bahujan Samaj we are more determined this time to teach a lesson to the BJP and the Congress both and win maximum number of seats in this region,” said Ratan Budha, a BSP leader.
But observers believe that the public anger against the BJP may have diluted by now.
Read: In Bhopal, Digvijaya Singh’s method vs Pragya Thakur’s appeal
“The political equations are quite different this time in comparison to those during state assembly elections. The anger against BJP has subsided and factors like caste equations and national issues are at play,” said Jayant Singh Tomar, head of department, Journalism ITM University, Gwalior.
Sitting MP and Congress candidate from Guna Jyotiraditya Scindia is contesting the election to make it to the Lok Sabha for the fifth consecutive term. He has been winning the seat since the 2002 by-poll. BJP has fielded KP Yadav while the BSP candidate Lokendra Singh Rajpoot has announced his support to Scindia and has been appealing to voters to back the Congress candidate.
Union minister for rural development and parliamentary affairs Narendra Singh Tomar is contesting on a BJP ticket from Morena once again. He had represented the seat from 2009 to 2014 but shifted to Gwalior in the 2014 parliamentary election and won the seat, though with a margin of less than 30000 votes. Congress has fielded ex-MLA Ramnivas Rawat while Kartar Singh Bhadana is the BSP’s candidate.
Read: All you need to know about Madhya Pradesh
BJP has chosen Gwalior mayor Vivek Shejwalkar as its candidate for Gwalior seat. Congress’ Ashok Singh who lost parliamentary elections at least twice from the seat is trying to turn the tables on the BJP. The BSP has fielded Mamta Singh Kushwah.
Bhind seat which is reserved for scheduled castes offers an interesting fight with the Congress pinning its hope on Devashish Jararia who defected to the party from BSP. Since he has been one of the main leaders in the agitation on SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, the BJP hopes to get spontaneous support from non-SC votes and benefit from division of SC votes between the Congress and the BSP.
Sagar which had been a stronghold of the BJP for almost three decades is only seat in Bundelkhand region where polling will be held on May 12. The BJP dropped its sitting MP Laxminarayan Yadav and fielded Raj Bahadur Singh, chairman of Sagar municipal body, who is contesting for the first time. He is facing challenges from Prabhu Singh Thakur of Congress who has been a minister in state government and Rajkumar Yadav from the BSP.
In central MP, Bhopal is set for a fierce fight between Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh and BJP’s Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in Malegaon bomb blast. While BJP hopes to gain from Hindutva issue Digvijaya Singh is pushing his development agenda for the state capital to convince the voters.
From Vidisha currently held by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, BJP has fielded former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s lieutenant Ramakant Bhargava. Chouhan represented the seat five times in a row from 1991 till he became chief minister. The Congress is relying on ex-MLA Shailendra Patel who lost state assembly elections last year. BSP has fielded Geetawali Ahirwar.
Rajgarh is home turf of Congress veteran former chief minister Digvijaya Singh. The Congress has fielded Mona Sustani against BJP’s sitting MP and candidate Rodmal Nagar. BSP has not fielded any candidate here.
