Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh): The streets and the skyline of Chhindwara have turned saffron with flags flying atop buildings, small and big, across the town on the occasion of Ram Navami. The BJP as well as the Congress seems to have been steeped in saffron colour. Chhindwara is the only place in Madhya Pradesh where former chief minister Kamal Nath was found reciting the name of Ram before the consecration of Ram’s idol in Ayodhya. Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath is contesting the Lok Sabha election for the second time.
When the country went to the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, the Congress was ruling the state. Kamal Nath was contesting a by-election from an assembly seat in Chhindwara, and Nakul Nath was in the fray for the Lok Sabha election. The BJP fielded a local leader Nathan Shah against Nakul Nath and Vivek Sahu against Kamal Nath. The father-son duo won both the elections. Although Nakul Nath won the Lok Sabha election, the margin was just 37,000. This time Sahu has been fielded against Nakul.
A road show held by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the advice given to BJP leaders at different meetings has generated a lot of heat in this constituency. Shah has clearly told the party leaders that they must pull out all the stops to win this election. Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya has also spared no effort to make a dent in Nath’s citadel as Chhindwara is called.
The BJP is trying to turn this contest into a fight between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nakul Nath. On the other hand, the Congress wants to make it a battle between Kamal Nath and Vivek Sahu. Both the parties are working towards this direction. Just 48 hours ahead of the polling, politics in this constituency has heated up. Political temperature rose after a case was registered against Kamal Nath’s associate for 45 years, Mignali, following a complaint by Sahu and a journalist. This clearly indicates that the situation will remain hot till the last vote is cast in this constituency where both the national parties are locked in a keen battle. The BJP wants the election to be fought in the name of Modi.
On the contrary, the Congress has raised the development work done by Kamal Nath in this constituency. This is palpable in the Congress’s electioneering. The party is writing Nakul-Kamal Nath everywhere in its graffiti to tell the voters that the senior Nath is leading election campaigning from the front. Kamal Nath who always speaks about Chhindwara model is considered a fine election strategist in this area. It has happened for the first time that Nath’s strategy is not evident anywhere. The leaders like Deepak Saxena and Kamlesh Shah who have been close to Kamal Nath for decades have left him.
Despite this, Nath claims the party will romp home. The BJP and the Congress are in the fray on the basis of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. In the previous election, the Congress got the highest lead in the Amarwada segment of this constituency. Saxena is highly influential in Chhindwara, and Shah is very powerful in Amarwada. Its impact may be seen in the election. The Congress is paying attention to those areas where it did not perform well in the previous parliamentary election. The Congress has made all efforts in Parasia, Chaurai and Pandhurna.
Despite all the issues, the defection engineered by the BJP in the Congress, and voters’ indifference to Nakul Nath, the people of Chhindwara respect Kamal Nath. The fate of the candidates rests on people’s respect for Nath and Modi’s name.
