In 2014, BJP won 27 out of 29 seats and in 2019, 28 out of 29 seats
Milind Muzumdar, Indore
In the New Year, the biggest challenge before the new Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav will be to win all the 29 Lok Sabha seats of the state in the Lok Sabha elections to be held this year. In 2014, under the leadership of Shivraj Singh Chauhan, BJP won 27 Lok Sabha seats. There was no BJP government at the time of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, yet the party won 28 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh.
Veterans like Digvijay Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia had lost while Kamal Nath had saved his stronghold Chhindwara. From there his son Nakulnath became MP. Although Chhindwara’s lead had reduced, Kamal Nath had still saved his stronghold as Chief Minister. Now the new Chief Minister will have to declare by winning Chhindwara also. Modi’s guarantee has worked in the assembly elections. Now the challenge of changing this result in the Lok Sabha elections will be before Dr. Mohan Yadav. He will not only have to show victory in the Lok Sabha elections but will also have to draw a bigger line in politics and administration than former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The new Chief Minister has shown through some of his decisions that he is fully ready and capable of writing a new chapter in the politics of the state.
The special thing is that the passion and ability to work hard which was there in Shivraj Singh Chauhan is also visible in Dr. Mohan Yadav. Like Shivraj Singh Chauhan, he also has the ability to work for 18 hours. He has also shown a glimpse of this. He has got a very strong and effective cabinet. This cabinet is going to give results. In the form of Dr. Mohan Yadav, BJP has not only given an OBC Chief Minister but because of the Yadav surname, he has a different importance in the Hindi belt. Especially considering the politics of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the party will also use Dr. Mohan Yadav on the national platform. From this point of view also, BJP will have a lot of expectations from the new Chief Minister.
In Congress, the pair of Jitu Patwari and Umang Singhar will also be on the test.
While intensifying the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has also taken a big decision in the state. Handing over the leadership to the young generation, the party has made Jitu Patwari the State Congress President, Umang Singhar as the Leader of Opposition and Hemant Katare as the Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Assembly. All these three leaders are below 50 years of age. Hemant Katare is only 38 years old. Both Jitu Patwari and Umang Singhar are directly associated with Rahul Gandhi. Jeetu Patwari belongs to Chandravanshi Khati community i.e. OBC. Whereas Umang Singhar comes from the tribal Bhilala community. Hemant Katare is a Brahmin. Congress has taken care of the caste equations but has ignored the regional balance. It has happened after a long time that Congress has given the post of State Congress President and Leader of Opposition to Malwa and Nimar region. Now it will be the responsibility of these three to improve the performance of Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In fact, the performance of Congress in the Lok Sabha elections is even weaker than that in the Assembly. Leaving aside the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in which Congress won 12 out of 29 Lok Sabha seats, in the last three Lok Sabha elections Congress has got even less seats than BJP. In 2014, it was successful in winning only two Lok Sabha seats and in 2019, it was successful in winning only one Lok Sabha seat. Whereas as per the 2023 assembly elections, Congress has taken lead on 10 Lok Sabha seats. Jitu Patwari will have to maintain this lead.
