MP: 50 Years After PC Sethi, Vijayvargiya In CM Race From Indore

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): After the decisive victory in Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, the BJP’s central leadership is contemplating a suitable candidate for Chief Minister’s post and one of the names doing the rounds is that of Kailash Vijayvargiya, the tallest leader of Malwa-Nimar region across parties.

This marks a significant development as it is after a gap of 50 years that a leader from Indore district is in race for CM post.

Earlier, in the political landscape of Madhya Pradesh, Congress party’s Prakash Chandra Sethi, representing Indore's Mhow constituency, became the Chief Minister in 1972.

Bhagwantrao Mandloi, Kailash Nath Katju, Kailash Chandra Joshi, Virendra Kumar Sakhlecha and Sunderal Patwa, all from Malwa-Nimar, had also become CMs but none of them were from Indore.

Since Sethi's era, the top job in the state seems to have bypassed Indore, with no one from this vibrant city even having a whiff of a chance over the years.

Will Vijayvargiya be able to change the political tapestry?

This stalwart of BJP, who has a reputation as “Man for Development”, is famous for his working style, leadership qualities and discipline.

He is the main force behind what Indore is today. During his tenure as mayor, Vijayvargiya had put Indore on the path of development and his successors only followed his blueprint.

The seven-time MLA held many key positions in Babulal Gaur and Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cabinets.

He was public works minister in Gaur's cabinet and his portfolio also included religious trusts, endowment, and rehabilitation. In the first cabinet of Shivraj Singh, he was made public works, information technology, and science & technology minister.

In the second cabinet of Shivraj Singh, Vijayvargiya held portfolios of IT and industries. In the third cabinet (post-2013 elections), Vijayvargiya held the portfolio of urban development.

He brought TCS, Infosys and more than 17 IT companies to Indore during his tenure as industry minister.

He has good connections in big industrial houses across the country.

Vijayvargiya is also known for election strategies. It’s for this reason that the party had made him in-charge in Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal for assembly polls.

He had also made strategy for BJP’s victory in Malwa-Nimar, the biggest region in the state having 66 out of 230 seats in its fold. His strategy worked and BJP won 48 seats in the region.

Seats that Vijayvargiya wins become BJP bastions

Vijayvargiya's electoral victories in Indore have solidified his status as a seat-puller for the BJP. Since securing Indore-4 from Congress in 1990, followed by victories in Indore-2 (1993), Mhow (2008), and Indore-1 (2023), any seat won by him transformed into a BJP stronghold. Notably, Congress has been unable to reclaim any seat wrested by Vijayvargiya. His influence extends to the mayoral election in 1999, where his victory set a trend for subsequent BJP candidates, ensuring continued success in this domain.