BJP feels confident in saffron bastion, Cong pulls itself together for a fight in Bhopal

Bhopal: Bhopal Lok Sabha seat is one of the seats in Madhya Pradesh where a BJP candidate may feel safe and secure irrespective of who is the Congress candidate and what challenges he may pose in the electoral battle. In 2019, former chief minister Digvijaya Singh faced drubbing at the hands of a novice in the electoral field — Pragya Thakur. The Congress veteran lost by over 3 lakh votes.

After Digvjaya Singh’s crushing victory, Congress seems to have accepted that contest at Bhopal is more or less a formality as the party candidate Arun Shrivastava, as of now, isn’t seen as posing any serious challenge to BJP candidate Alok Sharma. Yet, Sharma, who has been mayor of Bhopal but also lost two elections from Bhopal North, including the previous assembly election when he lost to Atif Aqueel, son of Arif Aqueel, is taking no chances.A roadshow of the PM Narendra Modi in New Market area and then a roadshow by CM Mohan Yadav in Kolar area within a week — shows that Alok Sharma doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. The roadshow by PM Modi is also being seen a message to his peers in the party at Bhopal, who are many and most of them hostile to him, to work for the victory of the BJP sinking their differences and preferences.Congress, on the other hand, is still struggling to come to terms with its loss in 2023 assembly election. And this shows more in the state capital Bhopal than other places in the state. The Congress won two assembly seats in Bhopal in the 2023 election — Bhopal Central and its traditional seat Bhopal North — but defeats of the party candidate PC Sharma from Bhopal (south-west) constituency was quite a blow to the party and its supporters. Congress is yet to recover from what it sees as an unexpected defeat in 2023 election when every Congressman, at least in Bhopal, appeared to be waiting for a thumping win to the party and consistent exodus of Congress leaders from the party including party's face in Bhopal Suresh Pachouri has done further damage to the morale of the party rank and file in Bhopal. Selection of Arun Shrivastava as the party candidate from Bhopal came as a surprise to many not only in the Congress but the common people, who would be voting in the election, as many of them had not heard his name before his candidature was announced. It was revealed at the time of announcement of his candidature by the media that his mother had been zilla panchayat president during erstwhile Digvijaya Singh regime. Not much is known about the mode of his campaigning except a publicity vehicle spotted in Shivaji Nagar appealing for votes to the Congress and a banner on the road towards Shahpura. He is also said to be making public contacts in the old city and the rural areas under Bhopal Lok Sabha seat. As far as campaigning, former bureaucrats Sushil Chadra Verma, who won the seat 4 times between 1989 to 1998, was hardly seen campaigning during the election and when someone asked how he won the election without going among his electorate, the BJP supporters would argue that he remains constantly in touch with the people in the rural areas of the constituency through correspondence and it was the reason that people voted for him, an argument which didn't appear to be convincing but Verma went on to win the successive election till Uma Bharti, searching for a safe seat, chose Bhopal to contest Lok Sabha election in 1999. From 1952 to 1984, Bhopal seat was represented by the Congress except in 1967 when Jagannathrao Joshi of Bhartiya Jansangh won the seat and in 1977, when Arif Beg won the seat as the Janta Dal candidate in the anti-Congress wave in 1977. Former president of India Shankar Dayal Sharma represented Bhopal seat twice in 1971 and 1980 and on both occasions, he wrested the seat from Jan Sangh and then Janta Party for the Congress but after the Ram temple movement in 1980s, Bhopal also became one of several Lok Sabha seats in MP where the BJP has not lost the election since 1989.