Neelam Abhay Mishra: Congress Candidate To Dismantle BJP's Hattrick Prospects In Rewa (image: twitter.com/neelammishrainc)

Abhay Mishra and his wife, Neelam Abhay Mishra, have been hopping between Congress and the BJP for a while. Currently, the couple is with Congress, and in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Neelam Mishra is contesting from Madhya Pradesh”s Rewa Lok Sabha seat on a Congress ticket.

In the 2023 Assembly elections,  Abhay Mishra is the sole Congress candidate to win in the election in the state and it was from Semariya Assembly segment in Rewa district. Perhaps, this might be the reason for the grand old party to choose Neelam Mishra”s candidacy for Rewa Lok Sabha seat.

Earlier, Neelam Mishra served as a legislator representing the Semariya Assembly constituency. She won the assembly election on a BJP ticket in 2013 and remained with the party till 2018. In 2018, she and her husband left the BJP and joined Congress.

Ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, Abhay Mishra, along with his wife, joined the BJP again. Their rejoining was with the aim of getting a ticket to contest from the Semariya. Failing to receive, Abhay Mishra and Neelam left the BJP and rejoined Congress. Following this, Abhay Mishra contested from Semariya and defeated the BJP candidate.

Since its formation, Rewa has been a stronghold of both the BJP and Congress. However, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party”s (BSP) vote bank holds significant influence in the constituency, and the party won the elections in 1991, 1996, and 2009. Two independent candidates have won the seat in the past as well.

In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Rewa constituency was secured by the saffron party. Besides, sitting BJP MP Janardan Mishra is seeking his third term from the Lok Sabha seat. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Janardan Mishra retained the seat by defeating Congress rival Siddharth Tiwari “raj” by a margin of 3,12,808 votes.