Despite facing a crushing defeat in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress can draw solace from the fact that it held on its own in the Gwalior-Chambal region, even after losing its top leader Jyotiraditya Scindia to the BJP.
In 2018, the Congress won 26 seats from this region with Mr. Scindia; in 2023, the party managed to get 16 without him. The BJP bagged 18 seats from this region, after the announcement of results on Sunday.
Madhya Pradesh Election Results 2023 | Updates
However, in the Mahakoshal region where the Congress president Kamal Nath’s Chhindwara constituency falls, the Opposition party’s tally dipped from 24 seats it won in 2018 to 17 this year.
The Chambal-Gwalior region, which borders Uttar Pradesh, has eight districts — Gwalior, Shivpuri, Datia, Ashoknagar, Guna, Morena, Bhind, and Sheopur.
The Congress government led by Kamal Nath fell in 2020 after Mr. Scindia – also known as Maharaj for his royal lineage – walked out of the party along with 22 of its loyalist MLAs and joined the BJP. The BJP, back then, managed to form the government under Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Mr. Scindia was made Union Minister, and is currently holding the portfolio of Civil Aviation.
Aggressive campaign
With Mr. Scindia aggressively campaigning in Gwalior-Chambal for weeks ahead of the Assembly poll, his supporters claimed that the Congress will be wiped out from the region. The Congress, however, put all its efforts to ensure that it doesn’t.
“The Congress won 26 of the 34 seats in Gwalior-Chambal in 2018 while it managed to win just 12 seats from here in 2013 and 13 in 2008. The BJP, however, won seven seats from here in 2018, 20 in 2013 and 16 in 2008. It is very clear that the BJP has done better in the region before Mr. Scindia joined the party,” said Sarman Nagele, a senior journalist and political analyst.
Outreach by Digvijay, son
Political observers also gave credit to the massive people outreach done by the Congress’s Digvijay Singh and his son Jaivardhan Singh in this region, which saved the face of the Congress. For many, it was ‘Raja versus Maharaj’ here as Mr. Singh belongs to Raghogarh, an erstwhile princely State of the Gwalior Residency.
After the results on Sunday, Mr. Scindia took to social media to thank the people of Madhya Pradesh for giving a clean sweep to the BJP.
“This Assembly election will be remembered by the public for rejecting the politics of lies, deception and caste division of the Congress and adopting the policy of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas of BJP under the leadership of Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi....” Mr. Scindia wrote. He thanked Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J.P. Nadda and CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan for their tireless and dedicated work during the election.
Responding to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s jibe questioning his ‘height’ in the BJP, Mr. Scindia said: “Someone had spoken about my height. The people of Gwalior-Malwa have shown how tall they are.”
In an interview to The Hindu, Mr. Scindia made it clear that he is not in the race for Chief Minister’s post and will do whatever the party leadership asks him to.
On the future of Mr. Scindia in the Congress, Mr. Nagele said that he is definitely a CM in the waiting list. “Even if not CM, his stature in the BJP will surely be stronger then before,” he added.
Meanwhile, the bad news for the Congress came from the Mahakoshal region, which comprises eight districts – Chhindwara, Jabalpur, Dindori, Katni, Mandla, Narsinghpur, Balaghat and Seoni. In 2018, the BJP won 13 seats from this region and the Congress 24, while one seat went to the BSP. Mr. Nath himself contested from Chhindwara and won.
In 2023, the BJP’s count in Mahakoshal was 22 while the Congress’s tally was reduced to 16 (till the time of filing this report as counting was still under way in a few seats). Those watching the elections closely in the State give credit for the gain in this region to the presence of Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, who was fielded by the BJP from the Narsinghpur constituency. Mr. Patel not just won the seat but also campaigned for others, unlike other BJP MPs who contested in the State.
