Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh)
Lotus (the BJP poll symbol) seemed in full bloom as the first phase of civic polls counting concluded late evening on Sunday handing mayoral win to ruling BJP at 7 out of 11 municipal corporations winning majority of wards in these urban bodies.
However the Congress party had something to cheer for as it snatched Gwalior municipal corporation from the BJP after 57 years and Jabalpur municipal corporation after a gap of 18 years. The grand old party also kept hold on Chhindwara municipal corporation, albeit with a narrow margin and a gap of 18 years.
The opposition party lost out to the BJP’s Mukesh Tatwal in a close contest in Ujjain where the victor margin for Tatwal was less than 1,000.
Gwalior win is a shot in the arm for Congress party as it comes after over a half century and also after Scindia –clan has collectively shifted base to BJP camp after the exit of union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in year 2020.
As Congress remained under the shade of Scindia fort in Gwalior, the party could never nurture a second rung of leadership in the region and was left with a vast void to fill post 2020.
Besides, Gwalior has been the home turf of several senior BJP leaders with union ministers –Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narendra Singh Tomar, being the most notable faces.
Political analysts believe that the defeat in Gwalior doesn’t augur well for Scindia who is still trying to find his foothold in the saffron camp after deserting Congress party with his supporters in year 2020.
To add, the BJP fared poorly in the wards belonging to several regional satraps.
To add, both Scindia and Tomar tried their best to make party victorious but their efforts did not bear fruit. To add, for a while the party was divided over ticket distribution but still the leaders and workers put in best efforts, said a local journalist wishing anonymity adding Ruchi Gupta the APP candidate also played spoilsport for the BJP.
To add, Congress’ Shobha Sikarwar had defeated Suman Sharma of the BJP by a margin of 28,800 votes while Ruchi Gupta, the former Congress district head, had joined AAP ahead of polls and as a mayoral candidate clinched close to 45,000 votes.
To add, Gupta in the past also been with the BJP as well.
Besides, Satish Sikarwar, Shobha’s husband and the BJP leader turned Congress MLA is a muscleman and is known for his strong ground connect with voters. However, the Congress MP unit was more than eager to assault Scindia after Gwalior win.
“First he lost in Guna and now put his party in a odd situation in Gwalior with a loss, the leadership of Kamal Nath has proved that who was betraying the party in Gwalior all this while,” Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra tweeted.
Jabalpur : BJP candidate was no match for Congress aspirant’
BJP candidate Dr Jitendra Jamdar, a physician by profession and vice president of Jan Abhiyan Parishad, MP proved no match for Jagat Bahadur ‘Annu’, the Congress candidate in Jabalpur. Dr Jamdar who owns two hospitals in the city reportedly lost favour with the public when he did not do as much as the locals expected out of him in covid19 era, said a senior journalist from Jabalpur. With a non-political image and weak connect with BJP workers and the public also did not help him. While Jagat Bahadur, whose wife had been a corporator, is known as a live wire in city circles with his strong ground connect. He also was good books of Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha and former Finance minister Tarun Bhanot. The Congress was quick to hurl taunts on BJP that Jabalpur did not favour the two famous son-in-laws, JP Nadda, the BJP president and VD Sharma, the party state head, whose wives belong to this city. Vishwanath Dubey was the last Congress mayor in Jabalpur and after he resigned in year 2004 following a defeat in Lok Sabha polls, no other candidate could get selected as a mayor.
A fierce bloom for lotus
Despite jolts in Gwalior, Jabalpur, Chhindwara and Singrauli, where AAP candidate won to open account in the state, the BJP put up a powerful performance winning 7 out of 11 municipal corporations in emphatic manner. Despite fielding a comparatively little known Malti Rai as mayor candidate in Bhopal, the party won by a margin of 94,000 votes. A rookie, Pushyamitra Bhargav too won by 1.3 lakh against muscleman Sanjay Shukla in Indore. To add, the party registered massive wins in wards in most of the municipal corporation winning 56% of the wards.
Emergence of APP, AIMIM thrown new political equations
To add, the BJP managed to put up a scintillating display of dominance in civic polls’ first round of results, the emergence of AAP and AIMIM has thrown new political equations in the state. AAP candidate Rani Agrawal won the mayoral poll in Singrauli while AAP candidate impacted winning result in Gwalior and Burhanpur along with AIMIM candidate in Burhanpur who almost deprived Congress a win pocketing over 10,000 votes. Emergence of these players is noteworthy in MP which is known for its bipolar political character.
