Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Will BJP heavyweight Kailash Vijayvargiya live up to his image of a candidate who has the enviable record of wresting seats from Congress and winning all the elections he has contested, or will the Congress candidate Sanjay Shukla emerge as a giant killer? Free Press scanned the constituency to find out the election issues, prospects of candidates and political history of this seat.
BJP won this seat thrice between 2003 and 2013 but Sanjay Shukla managed to secure the seat for Congress in the last election. Now, BJP has fielded Vijayvargiya to snatch back the seat.
Shukla has been pitching himself as ‘son’ of the constituency, and not a politician while attacking his opponent by branding him as a ‘guest’. Vijayvargiya is portraying himself as Indore’s leader and someone who knows how to bring about development in a constituency.
LAGS BEHIND IN DEVELOPMENT
The constituency is a mix of commercial and residential areas and compared to other parts lags in development. Indore-1 has many pressing issues like mushrooming slums in Banganga and Chandan Nagar, illegal colonies, incomplete roads like MR5, lack of tap water, no big playground or a big government hospital.
CASTE PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE
Though development has remained an issue, caste has also played an important role in deciding the winner. There are 3.64 lakh voters, but the way Brahmin and Yadav communities vote is expected to decide the result. With the entry of Vijayvargiya, the voters of Vaishya community will also play a pivotal role while the pocket of Muslim voters will also have its impact.
Issues in focus
1 Mushrooming slum areas
2 Illegal colonies which couldn’t be legalised
3 A big nullah which passes through six wards and becomes a reason for waterlogging in monsoon
4 Water logging in many posh areas during monsoon like Vindhyachal Nagar and others
5 No big playground
6 No big government hospital
7 Road broadening in Jinsi, Subhash Nagar remains incomplete
8 Narrow roads, drainage issues in slums at Chandan Nagar and Banganga areas
Sanjay sailing on his image of ‘Janata Ka Beta’
After snatching the seat from BJP in 2018, Sanjay Shukla has kept in touch with the voters. When invited he even attends small birthday programmes and never misses a condolence meet. He also organised various religious events including ‘Nani Bai Ro Mayro’, Pt Pradeep Mishra’s Shivmahapuran Katha, and sending residents to pilgrimages for free.
Kailash bets on his image of ‘Naam Hi Kaafi Hai’
Kailash Vijayavargiya has a history of getting development works done in whichever constituency he represents. Whether it is Indore-4, Indore-2, or Mhow, Vijayvargiya has succeeded in getting major development works done and he is trying to encash this image in Indore-1. He has even announced that the people will not have to wait to get the work done as his ‘Naam Hi Kaafi Hai’
BJP bastion till Sanjay ended the streak
Year Winner Loser Margin
2018 Sanjay Shukla Sudarshan Gupta 114555 106392 8163 2013 Sudarshan Gupta Kamlesh Khandelwal 99558 45382 54176 2008 Sudarshan Gupta Sanjay Shukla 61047 52864 8183 2003 Usha Thakur RamlalYadav ‘Bhallu’ 85346 57886 27460
Over 3.63 lakh voters in Indore-1
Total Number of voters: 363805
Male voters: 185538
Female voters: 178266
Third gender voters: 01
Elector-Population Ratio: 65.54
Gender ratio: 961
Janata Ka Beta contesting against ‘Bahubali’
“I am not a politician but a Janata ka Beta. The constituency is my family and I am devoted to them. Even when we were not in power, I didn’t let it affect the development works and even spent my own money to serve the people. I was the only one who was standing with people during coronavirus spread and I am sure people will shower their love on me again.”
Sanjay Shukla (Congress)
'Won’t let the constituency lag behind in development'
“I will not let the constituency lag behind in development. I am a people’s politician and know how to develop an area. BJP workers will also get their due respect, and no ‘file’ from Indore-I will be stopped at any level. We will win the election by the margin of over 50,000 votes.”
Kailash Vijayvargiya (BJP)
