Dhar (Madhya Pradesh): In the recently concluded assembly elections, Congress and BJP district presidents could not save their respective constituencies, taking a defeat in the areas.
The outcome highlights the need for both parties to reassess their strategies and address the concerns of the electorate to regain their trust in future elections.
In Dhar, out of seven assembly seats, Congress won five – Badnawar, Kukshi, Sardarpur, Gandhwani, and Manawar, while BJP despite a landslide victory in the state managed to win only Dhar and Dharampuri.
Dhar district Congress president Kamal Kishore Patidar originally hails from Dhamnod village, which comes under Dharampuri assembly constituency, where BJP's Kalu Singh Thakur won by a margin of 356 votes.
On the other hand, BJP district president Manoj Somani, who is originally from Badnawar, has a good hold in Badnawar, but Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat of Congress won, where state industries minister Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon failed to keep the reputation. Dattigaon has accused many workers of not doing the right thing; such workers will not be spared.
At the same time, some workers accused Manoj Somani of being involved in internal rifts, but he refuted all allegations, saying that he worked in the entire district.
Notably, the BJP candidate from Badnawar, Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon, contested on a Congress ticket in 2018 and defeated the then-BJP candidate Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat. In 2020, Dattigaon joined the BJP and defeated the Congress candidate in a by-election. However, this time, Shekhawat defeated Dattigaon by 2,900 votes.
When contacted, Shekhawat said that Dattigaon had started corruption and extortion. He began misusing his power to harass people. ‘Not me, but Dattigaon's own misdeeds and voters defeated him,’ Shekhawat said.
Shekhawat added that he came from Indore to free Badnawar from terror and hooliganism and the people of Badnawar supported him.
Here in Dharampuri, sitting Congress MLA Prachi Lal Medha lost to Kalusingh Thakur by a margin of 356 votes.
When contacted, Kamal Kishore Patidar, Congress president, who hails from Dhamnod village, said that his party had won five assemblies and lost two. Even in the past (in 2018), Congress won five and lost two, so we are in the same position.
On the other hand, Manoj Somani said that they made efforts in the entire district and worked for the lead everywhere, and now they will prepare for the Lok Sabha elections. We will win that with a huge margin of votes.
Dhar district
Seat Winner Loser Margin
Dhar Neena Verma (BJP) Prabha Gautam (Cong) 9694
Badnawar Bhanwar singh Shekhawat (Cong) RajvardhansinghDattigaon (BJP) 2976
Sardarpur Pratap Grewal (Cong) WelsinghBhuriya (BJP) 4128
Gandhwani Umang Singhar (Cong) Sardar Singh Meda (BJP) 22119
Kukshi Surendra Singh Baghel (Cong) Jaydeep Patel (BJP) 49888
Manawar Dr Hiralal Alawa (Cong) ShiwramKannoj (BJP) 708
Dharampuri Kalusingh Thakur (BJP) PanchilalMeda (Cong) 356
