Bhopal, March 24
The 15-year power drought ended for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh last year, but the state has 14 parliamentary constituencies that the party has not been able to win all these years.
On the contrary, there are only two Lok Sabha seats in the state that the BJP failed to win during the same period.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, the BJP had won 27 of the total 29 seats, except for Guna and Chhindwara constituencies, which were retained by Congress stalwarts Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath, respectively.
Scindia has been representing Guna in the Lok Sabha since 2002 and has been an MP from the seat for four straight terms.
Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath has been the Chhindwara MP for 10 times and has been winning the seat since 1980, except for in 1997 when the Congress leader lost to former CM and BJP leader Sundar Lal Patwa in a bypoll.
The saffron party has failed to wrest the two seats from the Congress in the past 15 years.
The 14 Lok Sabha seats that the Congress could not win during this period are Bhopal, Indore, Vidisha, Morena, Bhind, Sagar, Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Jabalpur, Balaghat, Betul and Rewa.
Except for Rewa, the BJP has been winning all these seats in the last 15 years.
Bahujan Samaj Party’s Deoraj Singh Patel had won Rewa in 2009. The BJP had won the seat in 2004 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
There are nine Lok Sabha seats in the state considered as BJP strongholds.
The BJP has not faced a single defeat since 1989 in Bhopal, Indore, Vidisha, Bhind and Damoh, whereas it has been winning Morena, Sagar, Jabalpur and Betul since 1996.
Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said the party had taken the issue of not winning the 14 Lok Sabha seats “seriously”. “We are making efforts to win maximum seats as there is anti-incumbancy against Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Chaturvedi said.
He said the party has sought suggestions from grassroot-level workers, on the lines of the Assembly poll in Madhya Pradesh last November, for deciding winnable candidates for those 14 seats.
“The Congress will definitely field senior leaders for Bhopal, Indore and Vidisha seats,” the state Congress spokesperson said.
State BJP chief spokesperson Deepak Vijayvargiya said the party would field “strong” candidates for Guna and Chhindwara and try for a “clean sweep” this time. — PTI
Out of Cong grasp
Bhopal, Indore, Vidisha, Morena, Bhind, Sagar, Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Jabalpur, Balaghat, Betul and Rewa
BJP’s failing
Guna and Chhindwara
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from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2JEd3Yb
via Today’s News Headlines
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