Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Gwalior Lok Sabha seat is one of the constituencies in the state where the BJP is locked in a tough fight with the Congress – despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s influence.
Except for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the constituency has always seen a tough fight between the two arch rivals. The BJP has fielded former minister Bharat Singh Kushwaha from this constituency. He lost the assembly election from Gwalior rural seat. Similarly, the Congress gave a ticket to Praveen Pathak who lost the assembly election from Gwalior south. The Congress declared its candidate one month after the ruling party did. So, the BJP has got more time for campaigning than its rival.
Kushwaha is counting on the influence of Modi and the strategy of Vidhan Sabha Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar. It is Tomar who played an important role in giving a ticket to Kushwaha. Because he got ticket from Tomar’s quota, the supporters of Jyotiraditya Scindia look unhappy. Pathak is depending on caste equations. The Congress leaders are not whole-heartedly with him. The supporters of Ramsewak Singh Gurjar who sought a ticket from this constituency are angry.
Although the atmosphere is in favour of the BJP in MP, the party is locked in a keen contest in this seat. As far as the caste factor is concerned, the highest number of voters in this constituency belongs to the SC category. There are four lakh SC, three lakh Brahmin, two lakh Kshatriya, two lakh Gurjar, two lakh Yadav and more than one and a half lakh tribal voters in this constituency. The number of Kushwaha voters is very high besides there are one and a half lakh Muslim voters in this constituency.
Pathak thinks besides the Brahmins, the SC community, the Muslims, the Gurjars and the tribal people will vote for him. The Congress thinks the Kshatriyas, the Rawats, the Kushwahas and the Brahmins are in its favour. Tomar is making the poll strategy for Kushwaha. As caste factor is important in this constituency, the leaders are being invited to address public rallies accordingly.
There are eight assembly seats in this parliamentary constituency – four belong to the BJP and four to the Congress. The BJP candidates won Gwalior, Gwalior south, Karera and Bhitarwar constituencies. The Congress won Gwalior rural, Gwalior west, Dabra and Pohri seats.
History indicates that the Congress had been fielding Ashok Singh for the past four elections from this seat.
In 2019, Singh lost to Vivek Shejwalkar by 1.46 lakh votes. In 2014, Tomar won the seat by a margin of 29, 699 votes. Similarly, Yashodhara Raje Scindia won this seat by a margin of 26, 591 votes in 2009. She defeated the Congress candidate in 2007 by a margin of 36, 474 votes. Congress candidate Raksewak Singh won this seat in 2004. The victory margin of the winning candidates indicates that this seat always saw a tough fight between the two national parties. This time, too, it is not going to be a cakewalk for both the parties.
