Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The electorate of Damoh Parliamentary constituency seem to love turncoats. At least that is what the electoral record of the constituency suggests. In last 35 years, all the candidates elected to the Lok Sabha from Damoh have switched parties - either before the election or after it.
This time, BJP has fielded Rahul Singh Lodhi from Damoh. Lodhi is also a turncoat. He has quit Congress and joined the ruling party. He is facing another Lodhi - Tarbar Singh of Congress party. Initially, Damoh constituency comprised all the four Vidhan Sabha segments of the district, three Assembly seats of Panna district and Bada Malhara constituency in Chhatarpur district.
After the delimitation exercise in 2009, Damoh now includes Deori, Rehli and Banda constituency in Sagar district and Bada Malhara of Chhatarpur district besides all the seats in Damoh district. With the sole exception of Shivraj Lodhi, who was elected from Damoh on a BJP ticket in 2009, all the other successful candidates were defectors. They include BJP heavyweight Prahlad Patel.
In 1989, Lokendra Singh, a scion of the Panna princely family, contested Damoh seat as BJP candidate. He defeated Congress's Dalchand Jain. In the next election, he joined Congress party as BJP didn’t give him ticket. Next came Ramkrishna Kusmaria who defeated Dalchand Jain in 1991, Mukesh Nayak in 1996, Naresh Jain in 1998 and Tilak Singh Lodhi in 1991. In 2004, he was elected to Lok Sabha from Khajuraho.
Then, in 2013, he fought Assembly election and became a minister in Shivraj ministry. In 2018, he turned a rebel after he was denied ticket. He later joined Congress and later returned to BJP. Prahlad Singh Patel, who was elected from Damoh in 2019 and 2024, had joined Bharatiya Janshakti Party floated by Uma Bharti. Later, he rejoined BJP.
In 2004, Chandrabhan Singh of BJP defeated Tilak Singh Lodhi of Congress. He was expelled from BJP after he cross-voted on no-confidence motion and joined Congress. He fought from Damoh on Congress ticket but lost. He later returned to BJP.
