BJP clean sweeps MP, wrests Chhindwara from Congress
BHOPAL: The ruling BJP on Tuesday scored a sweeping win in Madhya Pradesh by clinching all 29 Lok Sabha seats, including Congress bastion Chhindwara, with Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia, Faggan Singh Kulaste, and Virendra Kumar emerging victorious.
With all 29 under its belt, the BJP became the first political party to achieve such a feat after 40 years in Madhya Pradesh. In the undivided MP, the Congress had won all 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in 1984.
Notably, the victory margin of the BJP ranged between 1 lakh to 5 lakh votes in 26 constituencies, while it stood under 1 lakh in Bhind, Gwalior, and Morena constituencies.
The most spectacular victory was registered by BJP’s sitting MP from Indore, Shankar Lalwani, who bagged the seat by the potentially highest-ever margin of 11,75,092 votes, followed by Vidisha from where former CM and BJP stalwart Shivraj Singh Chouhan won by staggering 8.21 lakh votes.
The four other consistencies in which the BJP secured a margin of over 5 lakh votes are Khajuraho (5.41 lakh), Guna (5.40 lakh), Bhopal (5.01 lakh) and Mandsaur (5 lakh).
The BJP managed to breach the long-standing Congress citadel Chhindwara, which it failed to capture in the 2019 elections when it had won 28 seats.
This is the second time since 1952 that the BJP has won the Chhindwara seat, with BJP’s Bunty Vivek Sahu defeating sitting MP Nakul Nath by a margin of 1,13,618 votes on Tuesday.
The saffron party had managed to win Chhindwara constituency for the first time 26 years ago when former chief minister and senior BJP leader Sunderlal Patwa defeated Kamal Nath in 1997 by-elections.