Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): In Madhya Pradesh, two assembly constituencies of Ujjain district viz Ujjain North and Ujjain South have a very interesting electoral pattern. The history of last 11 Assembly elections, held between 1972 and 2018, shows that the two constituencies have consistently voted for the same party - be it BJP/Janata Party or Congress and the party the duo represented went on to form the government. This has happened for around 10 times barring an exception in 1993 when the party that won the seats did not form the government.The BJP candidates on the two seats won the 1993 Assembly election but it was Congress which formed the government under the leadership of Digvijaya Singh.
In as many as seven Assembly elections, BJP/Janata Party candidates emerged victorious simultaneously from Ujjain North and Ujjain South seats, while Congress could wrest the two seats for only 4 times. It would be interesting to see if this trend is repeated once again.
Ujjain North seat assumes significance as Mahakaleshwar Temple and Kshipra river stretch falls under this constituency and this is the centre of Simhastha Mahaparva, held every 12 years. This very seat had given a chief minister like Prakash Chand Sethi (Congress). He later shifted to Indore and thereafter went on to become Union home minister. Sethi contested from the Ujjain North and was elected to the State Assembly in 1972 elections. In the 1977 elections, the then Janata Party leader Babulal Jain got elected from the seat and his party formed the government.
Congress’ Rajendra Jain was elected from the seat in 1980 and when Congress formed the government he was made cabinet minister. Batuk Shankar Joshi of Congress was elected to the Assembly from the seat in 1985.
In 1990, BJP’s new face Paras Chandra Jain got elected. Barring 1998 election, when Congress’s Rajendra Bharti registered win from this seat and the Congress succeeded in maintaining its power in the State, Jain represented the seat in Assembly in 1993, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018 elections. He also served as cabinet minister for around 10 years in the BJP-led government. However, the BJP has denied ticket to him for the ensuing elections and made Anil Jain Kaluheda its candidate. Kaluheda, who is BJP’s State co-treasurer, will be facing Congress candidate Maya Trivedi in his debut election. Trivedi, a three-time corporator, had rebelled against the party ahead of 2018 elections and lost her deposit. Muslim-Bohra, Brahmin, Vaish and Mali communities have huge voters in this area.
Ujjain South seat comprises 70% urban and 30% rural voters. Two government universities viz Vikram University and Panini Sankrit University and one private university viz Avantika (MIT, Pune) University are located in the constituency. It also houses Divisional administrative headquarters. It was SC reserve seat till 1972, but became open seat after delimitation. In 1972, Congress’ Durgadas Suryavanshi was elected from here and became Cabinet minister. In 1977, Janata Party’s Govindrao Vishwanath Naik got elected. In the 1980 and 1985 elections, Mahaveer Prasad Vasishtha of Congress represented this seat. BJP candidates Babulal Mahere and Shiva Kotwani won from here in 1990 and 1993 elections, respectively. Congress’ Priti Bhargava emerged victorious in 1998. BJP’s Shivnarayan Jagirdar represented this seat in 2003 and 2008 elections and also served as minister of state briefly in Babulal Gaur’s cabinet. Sitting BJP MLA Mohan Yadav wrested this seat in 2013 and 2018 and also became cabinet minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. The BJP has pitted him against former corporator and Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Chetan Yadav for the ensuing polls. Bairwa, Rajput and Brahmin communities have sizable electorates in this constituency.
