Chhindwara: The OBC Fortress Of Kamal Nath (Image: X/azaadvichar14)A young constituency formed in 2008, which soon positioned itself in the crucial spot of a state’s political spectrum… Chhindwara in central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh went to polling booths only five times in its entire lifetime, including the recently concluded 2023 elections. Being a part of the Chhindwara district, the constituency of the same name is one among the 230 legislative assembly seats of the Madhya Pradesh.
Chhindwara is the fortress of former chief minister Kamal Nath and the major part of the voter count was contributed by the OBC category. The constituency has a voter count around 26,27,400 out of which 1,33,900 are male and 1,29,700 are female voters.
The political power-play is very clear from its past performance as the region supported the Indian National Congress (INC) in three of its four terms. In the first and foremost competition, held in 2008, the region supported Congress fielded Deepak Saxena. In the next election, conducted in 2013, the major opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) overturned the Congress authority. It was Chandrabhan Singh Chaudhary who won the seat then and completed the five-year term.
The constituency witnessed a reversal of political potency once again in 2018 as Deepak Saxena regained the position as MLA and replaced Chaudhary in office. The constituency was subjected to a by-poll in 2019 and senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Kamal Nath secured the seat. In the by-poll, Kamal Nath was fielded against BJP’s Vivek Bunty Sahu and earned a clear majority.
In 2019, Kamal Nath secured 114,459 votes (55.53%) and won with a majority of 25,837 votes, where Vivek Bunty Sahu managed to earn 88,622 votes (43%). In 2023 also, BJP and Congress came head-to-head and Vivek Bunty Sahu and Kamal Nath were fielded by the parties respectively. While Kamal Nath expects to continue in office BJP expects a reversal, gaining back the seat which they lost from the 2018 elections.
Kamal Nath has been elected as a member of the Parliament from the Chhindwara Parliamentary seat nine times consecutively. But he shifted his role to an MLA from the Chhindwara assembly constituency by the 2019 by-polls. During his five-year tenure, Kamal Nath has contributed significantly to developments of the constituency. He focused in areas like railways, roads, healthcare, education, and employment for the youth.