Around 350 kms away from Madhya Pradesh바카라s capital Bhopal, the campaign song of an Adivasi party being played in an excessively loud sound sets the mood 바카라 바카라Ravan Bhaiya ko Jitana hai bhaiya바카라. Yellow scarfs, yellow headgears, chokers made of metal 바카라 commonly known as chik, tikli or the ornamental spot worn on the forehead made of turmeric and rice, beats of dholak and damru assert an Adivasi identity that is about to shape the fate of political parties in the state.
Batkakhapa village of Chhindwara constituency is not a battleground only for BJP and Congress, rather the Adivasi-dominated region recites a new name as well 바카라 Devram (Ravan) Ballavi of Gondwara Ganatantra Party (GGP). Amidst the fanfare, people cheering and sloganeering 바카라 바카라Dekho Dekho Kaun Aya Sher Aya, Sher Aya바카라 바카라 as Ravan enters the scene, the village elders rush to garland him. The humble Ravan bows his head down to touch their feet and says, 바카라I am your son.바카라 A veteran Adivasi villager Simru Inwati couldn바카라t hold his tears back: 바카라How can we not choose our own people? This time no big figures like Kamal Nath or Nakul Nath 바카라 it is the turn of our son.바카라
Chhindwara is one of the six Adivasi-dominated constituencies in the Mahakoshal region that is going to polls in the first phase, on April 19. The other seats are Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Balaghat and Mandla. As per different estimates, the Adivasi population in this region is more than 50% and hence, both the BJP and Congress have been trying to focus on Adivasi issues during the campaigns, says a political analyst.
A few days back, Rahul Gandhi during his rallies at Shahdol and Balaghat said that if the party comes to power, it would implement Sixth Schedule in this region. He also called out BJP for terming the indigenous people as 바카라Vanavasis바카라 instead of Adivasis. BJP district leaders, nonetheless, debunked such promises as 바카라false claims바카라 and said that it is the BJP that has been working for the marginalized communities. Evoking its successful implementation of Ujjwala Yojana, PMAY, ration for 80 crores people 바카라 among others 바카라 BJP emphasises Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.
Against this backdrop, the fight in Chhindwara, Mandla and Balaghat becomes interesting. Chhindwara, known as Kamal Nath바카라s bastion where Nath family members never lost an election in 45 years, barring only 1997, is one of the star seats in the state. Even in the last assembly elections in 2023 when BJP gave a stellar performance winning 163 seats and reducing Congress to merely 66, the saffron party could not make a dent in Nath바카라s bastion. Congress won all of the seven seats that come under Nath바카라s constituency.
Immediately after the assembly elections, senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister of the state reached Chhindwara and while addressing a rally announced 바카라Mission 29바카라- a promise to win 29 out of 29 seats in the state. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections even when the Modi wave swept the state and the ruling party got 28 seats, Nath-scion held on to Chhindwara.
However, for the last few months, things have not been well for Congress. According to the claims of local BJP leaders almost 12,000 leaders of the grand old party have jumped boat and joined BJP. Among them there are big names as well- former MLA of Chhindwara Deepak Saxena, the mayor of Chhindwara Vikram Ahakey and Amarwada바카라s MLA Kamalesh Shah.
Party insiders say that it is Kamal Nath바카라s 바카라parivaarbad바카라 that led to massive discontent within the party. A senior leader of the party says, 바카라Kamal Nath fought 2018 assembly elections from Chhindwara after removing sitting MLA Saxena. Definitely, he expected something as reward. But in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, instead of nominating him, he fielded his son from Chhindwara.바카라
The case of Kamalesh Shah, nonetheless, pertains to corruption allegations against him. A Congress veteran from Amarwada says, 바카라He has been a feudal lord. He owns a huge palace. He was feared of the investigating agencies that he thought would snatch his properties.바카라 Former Minister and national spokesperson of the party, Mukesh Nayek, nonetheless, believes that these people wouldn바카라t stand a chance without Kamal Nath. 바카라If you consider Ahakey, he was nobody before he met Nath. It was Nath who made him a leader. Where would they go without the support of Nath?바카라
A major blow to the party came last month when there were rumours that Kamal Nath along with his son would join BJP. Though Nath cleared out the cloud soon saying that the BJP was trying to spread rumours, it had some impact on the ground. However, the messiah image of Nath continues to dominate the lanes of Chhindwara. At Dhanoura village, around 30 kilometres away from the hustle and bustle of the city, Ravinder Dahariya says, 바카라For me, he is the god. When I got a very bad head injury last year, Nath bore the cost of the surgery. It was around Rs 6 lakh.바카라 A village veteran intervenes, 바카라You can find so many cases where Nath bore the cost of medical treatment of poor villagers.바카라 Apart from that, he created an industrial area in Boregaon where around 10,000 villagers got work, says Nakul Nath in a rally. 바카라Chhindwara is the only place where one can find seven Kendriya Vidyalayas,바카라 Nath-scion adds.
However, BJP has trained its gun at Kamal Nath saying that he has turned Chhindwara into his family business. They have again fielded Vivek Bunty Sahu who was defeated by Nath in the 2023 assembly elections. Still, the party is banking on the popularity of Congress leaders who have joined the BJP. One of the BJP district-level leaders, Rohit says, 바카라In Amarwada, 72 sarpanchs have joined BJP. And thus, we have the Adivasi support.바카라 Amarwada segment is one of the major Adivasi-dominated assembly constituencies of Chhindwara.
Another major factor in favour of Sahu is his caste, says a BJP leader. Sonaram Sahu, a resident of Ubegaon village around 20 km away from the city says, 바카라We would support our own people. He belongs to our community.바카라
Interestingly, in Chhindwara, the BJP is feared for something very unusual 바카라 the Nath duo바카라s financial dominance. 바카라We don바카라t have enough money to combat them,바카라 says Rohit. Nakul Nath is the richest candidate in the state with a declared wealth of Rs 716 crores.
On the other hand, Ravan of GGP is quite sure to defeat both Nath and Sahu. Addressing a rally of almost 1000 people at Batkakhapa, he roars, 바카라You voted for Kamalesh Shah and he joined the BJP. You must have seen what happens when you choose someone who doesn바카라t belong to you.바카라
Last year, in the assembly elections Ballavi fought against Shah and former GGP leader Monika Batti who joined BJP before the polls and stood third. GGP had its best time during 2003 when the founder of the party and renowned Adivasi leader Hira Singh Markam became MLA. The party, nevertheless, couldn바카라t continue with the performance after 2010. Last assembly elections, they had an alliance with the BJP but this time Ravan is fighting alone.
The fight of Mandla also seems to be interesting where Union Minister and senior Adivasi leader Faggan Singh Kulaste is fighting against Congress leader Omkar Singh. Kulaste lost the assembly elections in 2023 giving Congress a fillip. 바카라We think we will be able to repeat our performance this time as well,바카라 says a Congress leader. In Balaghat, the grand old party is banking on the internal conflict of the BJP. It has fielded Bharti Pardhi, apparently a new face removing the sitting MP Dr. Dhal Singh Bisen. One of the BJP supporters, says, 바카라Bisen worked a lot and they shouldn바카라t have removed him. We are not happy with the decision.바카라
Amidst these interesting contests in the Mahakoshal region, Chhindwara remains the centre of attraction. As these seats go to polls today, the question remains 바카라 will BJP be able to make a dent in the Nath bastion of Chhindwara?
