Has The BJP Finally Managed To Capture The Elusive Chhindwara?

As per latest reports, Congress leader Kamal Nath’s son and sitting MP Nakul Nath is trailing by over 29,000 votes in Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat. Notably, Chhindwara is the only seat that the Congress has maintained a stronghold over since 1952.

The BJP fielded district president Vivek “Bunty” Sahu, who faced defeat against Kamal Nath in the past two assembly polls, the saffron party’s faith in using the support of Congress defectors to break the Congress’ winning streak since 1998 seems to have worked.

With the last remaining Congress fortress now seemingly in the clutches of the BJP, the saffron party is expected to make a clean sweep in Madhya Pradesh. The defeat will be devastating for Congress and especially for the former Chief Minister Kamal Nath and son, as losing the family seat in the state will end the influence and the political legacy of the Nath family.

The only time the grand old party lost the seat was in 1997 when BJP’s Sunder Lal Patwa won. However, Congress’ Kamal Nath regained the seat in 1998 till 2014 before his son took over in 2019.

In the 2019 assembly elections, Kamal Nath secured 1.1 lakh votes and won the Chhindwara assembly constituency, while Vivek Sahu managed to earn over 88 thousand votes. In 2023 as well, Nath won with 1.3 lakh votes, beating Sahu, who won 95,708 votes.

Kamal Nath has won the Chhindwara seat nine times – from 1980 to 91 and then from 1998 to 2014, losing once in a by-election in 1997. In 2019, his son won the parliamentary constituency with 5.4 lakh votes and a margin of 37,000 votes, defeating the BJP”s Nathan Shah, who secured over 5 lakh votes. In the 2019 general elections, the BJP won 28 seats in the state except Chhindwara.

One of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies of Madhya Pradesh, Congress’ citadel Chhindwara comprises seven Vidhan Sabhas such as Junnardeo, Pandhurna, Sausar, Chourai, Chhindwara, Amarwara, and Parasiya.