Ground Report
Electoral landscape :Khargone dist
Seats 6
Khargone (Madhya Pradesh): Ideally, one would start ground-zero report of Khargone district on MP assembly polls from the constituency which made national headlines following Communal riots in April 2022 that created a big divide between Hindus and Muslims, however, we’ll begin by taking you to Maheshwar, which presents a different perspective .
On the main road of Maheshwar, there's a Paan shop owned by Amjad. A man in his 40s, arrives and requests a paan to soothe his sore throat. Interestingly, he seems more interested in knowing how others present at the kiosk plan to vote. "Undoubtedly BJP. The lotus will bloom, and Congress will wilt," claims a man in his 60s, wearing saffron clothing and adorned with chandan, tulsi, and rudraksha malas. Amjad and others however differ. "It's a closely contested race between BJP and Congress in Maheshwar," Amjad responds."
The bond between Hindus and Muslims is very strong in Maheshwar and they are seen freely and vocal about their political opinions unlike other places in Madhya Pradesh. Not only Maheshwar, people of the entire Khargone district, which comes under Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, wear their political preferences on their sleeves, publicly expressing their views on parties and candidates in the fray.
Khargone district comprises six constituencies viz Khargone city, Bhikangaon, Bhagwanpura, Maheshwar, Barwaha, and Kasrawad.
In 2018 assembly elections, Congress had a clean sweep winning five seats and the sixth one went to a rebel Congress who won election as independent and later joined the grand old party back. Vijayalaxmi Sadho, who was elected from Maheshwar, and Sachin Yadav, who was elected from Kasrawad, got cabinet berths in the Kamal Nath-led government which lasted for merely 15 months.
Long before they cast their votes, the voters in this district openly express their political preferences. The majority of the voters this correspondent spoke to in the region, believe that it's going to be a Three-All.
While Congress looks strong in Bhikangaon, Bhagwanpura and Kasrawad, BJP seems to be having an edge in Barwaha and Khargone which had witnessed the communal riots last year. Additionally, the saffron party appears to be gaining ground in Maheshwar.
Khargone: April ‘22 riots may unseat Cong here
After three back-to-back defeats in Assembly elections, the Congress finally managed to win the seat again in 2018. Ravi Joshi of Congress, who had lost election in 2013, had wrested the seat from BJP’s Balikrishna Patidar. Until one-and-a-half-year ago, all was okay and people had no issue with Joshi. In April, 2022, communal riots after the stone-pelting at Ram Navami procession, polarized Hindus and Muslims and the impact of riots is clearly visible on the ground. Former two-time MLA Patidar and sitting MLA Joshi are again in fray with the advantage to BJP candidates as Muslims are considered as traditional voters of Congress. The riots are going to be the main poll issue in this constituency when it votes on November 17.
Kasrawad: It’s a stronghold of Yadav
Two-time MLA, Sachin Yadav of Congress and BJP’s Atmaram Patel are again in the fray for the third consecutive time. Subhash Yadav, who had served as deputy chief minister in Digvijaya Singh government, was the tallest leader of this Yadav-dominated constituency. The three-time MLA, Yadav had faced defeat at the hands of Patel in 2008. After Yadav’s demise, his son Sachin Yadav avenged his father's defeat by wresting seat from Patel in 2013. In the 2018 elections, Sachin again defeated Patel and went on to become minister in the Kamal Nath –led government. After the Nath government toppled, Sachin got back to make live contact with his people in the constituency. His activeness seems to pay him off as even youngsters are talking to vote for him. The youths, farmers and business community seem to be railed behind him. If anything can result in his misfortune could be Ladli Behna Yojana.
Bhikangaon: Only Ladli Behna Yojana can ruin Solanki’s chances
Two-time MLA and Congress candidate Jhuma Solanki and BJP’s Nanda Brahamne are again in a fight after 10 years. Last time when Solanki and Brahamne had contested for this seat, the former had a last laugh as she won by 2399 votes. Solanki then defeated BJP’s Dhool Singh Dawar, a two-time MLA, in 2018. Jhuma, a tribal leader, represents this tribal-dominated belt. Most voters believe that she will prevail over Brahamne once again. However, there are many others who claim that Ladli Behna Yojana will play spoilsport for the Congress candidate. “Tribals and women belonging to the economically weaker section have started receiving Rs 1,250 monthly in their accounts. This freebies could unseat Solanki as many women may not want this scheme to be discontinued with change in government as the Congress has promised the same or rather something better, but as of now it is still a poll promise,” say some voters.
Maheshwar: Sadho struggles to retain seat
Pitted against BJP’s Rajkumar Mev, the Congress heavyweight and five-time MLA Vijaylaxmi Sadho faces a challenge of retaining her seat. Though many BJP leaders are sabotaging against Indore-based Mev, anti-incumbency here against Sadho is quite visible. Many voters think that Mev riding on the local anti-incumbency will win the election. Mev had defeated Sadho in 2013 election but the party did not give him ticket to contest 2018 elections making him rebel and he threw his hat in the ring as an independent candidate. Mev stood second and BJP candidate third in the 2018 showing that he enjoys a strong support base in Maheshwar. With BJP symbol backing, Mev could wrest the seat from Sadho, feel voters in Maheshwar.
Barwaha: Turncoat Birla going strong against Patel
Sachin Birla, who had wrested Barwaha seat from BJP in 2018, is now contesting election on BJP ticket this time. Narendra Patel of Congress is taking on turncoat Birla. The seat created in 2008 saw Hitendra Singh Solanki as first MLA. During the second election, Biral sought a ticket from both Congress and BJP but none entertained him. So, he contested the election as an independent. While BJP’s Solanki won election by securing 67,600 votes, Birla was close second with 61,970 votes and Congress candidate Rajendra Solank was distant third with 14,323 votes. In 2018, Congress gave ticket to Birla who defeated Hitendra Solanki. However, he later quit Congress and joined BJP. While many voters dub Birla’s move wrong, they say he would eventually win the election this time.
Bhagwanpura: Advantage Congress with Dawar as candidate
One of the seats where Congress appears strong in Khargone district is Bhagwanpura. Here, the rebel of Congress in 2018 is the party candidate now. And the constituency seems to be rallied behind him . Sitting MLA Kedar Dawar, who contested election as independent and won the election as Congress gave ticket to Vijay Singh, is facing off against newcomer Chandra Singh Vaskle of BJP. In the bipolar election, Congress appears strong on the ground. Vaskle is seeking vote on development done by BJP government and Laldli Behna Yojana
Free Press correspondent Sunil Sharma in Khargone also predicts three seats each for BJP and Congress. Our Sendhwa correspondent, Shyam Maheshwari, speaks on the same line on Khargone political equations.
