MP: BJP’s eye on Kamal Nath’s bastion Chhindwara, lone Congress LS seat

The ruling BJP has its eyes set on winning a lone Congress Lok Sabha seat, Chhindwara this time as Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has been focusing on and the party’s senior leader Kailash Vijayvargiya has been given responsibility for it as a cluster head.

CM Yadav toured Chhindwara on Wednesday for the first time after taking over as CM and gave a big jolt to the Congress fold by inducting several Nath loyalists including the party’s state general secretary Ajju Thakur and Pandhurna Nagar Palika chairman Sandip Ghatoge and others, into the BJP.

“ No power in the world can stop the Bharatiya Janata Party from winning the Chhindwara seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls”, Yadav said while addressing an event there.

“Many people are in dilemma and they will sooner or later join the BJP, our party will welcome everyone because the purpose is to serve the nation”, Yadav also said. The CM also launched several development projects worth Rs 178.26 crore for Chhindwara during his visit.

CM’s visit to Chhindwara also came in the wake of weeks-long speculations that Nath and his son were upset with the Congress leadership and could shift their loyalties to the BJP.

Veteran BJP leader and senior Minister in Madhya Pradesh cabinet Vijayvargiya who holds Urban Development and Housing portfolios, has been made in charge of the Jabalpur cluster in which the Chhindwara LS segment falls by the BJP organisation. There are five Lok Sabha seats in this cluster viz Jabalpur, Balaghat, Mandla, Shahdol and Chhindwara.

After becoming cluster head, Vijayvargiya who is known as a skilled organisational as well as election strategist leader has visited several times and held meetings with the party office bearers and workers. “BJP will win 100 per cent of the Chindwara seat this time along with all 29 seats of the state”, Vijayvargiya said. Notably, initially, the BJP was put in charge of the Indore cluster to Vijayvargiya but after a few days, it changed the cluster heads of all seven regions appointing Vijayvargiya of Jabalpur.

The strategy of the Saffron party giving responsibility to Vijayvargiya shows that its eye is on securing the Chhindwara seat this time. Vijayvargiya has also given success to the party in the Haryana and West Bengal Assembly elections as state in-charge general secretary.

The Chhindwara is considered a bastion of Congress leader and former CM Kamal Nath, which is currently presented by his son Nakul Nath in Lok Sabha. Nath has been MP from this seat nine-term and his wife also won the LS segment one time.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Chhindwara was the only LS seat that the Congress merely bagged. Nath’s son won the seat while the BJP registered a victory on 28 seats out of a total of Madhya Pradesh’s 29. The Congress won all 7 Assembly seats falling in the Chhindwara district in the recently concluded polls.