Congress Eyes Comeback in Madhya Pradesh, Targets 21 Seats Covered by Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra

The Congress wants to regain power in a state where it lost its government in the middle and is targeting 21 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh that were affected by its leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra last year.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra was credited by the Congress in May of this year for the party's victory in the Karnataka assembly elections, as the Gandhi-led foot march was able to win 15 of the 20 assembly seats in the state.

The Congress now anticipates a similar outcome in Madhya Pradesh, where elections for 230 assembly seats will take place on November 17 in a single round.

Gandhi's padyatra had a direct influence on the Congress, which claimed credit for their victory in last month's elections for the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil.

The former president of the Congress walked 380 kilometers in almost two weeks across 21 assembly seats spread throughout six districts of the Malwa-Nimar region: Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone, Indore, Ujjain, and Agar Malwa. This was part of the Madhya Pradesh portion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Party officials believed that the yatra would invigorate cadres and provide much-needed vitality to the state Congress, preparing it for the elections in 2023.

Of the 21 seats in the Madhya Pradesh legislature that fall along the yatra's path, 14 are held by the BJP, while the Congress holds seven seats.

Malwa-Nimar native and former state Congress president Arun Yadav told PTI that the Bharat Jodo Yatra would undoubtedly have an impact and increase the number of seats his party has won.

He said that after Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, "a large number of young voters are attracted to the Congress, not only in Madhya Pradesh but also in other states."

Former Union minister Yadav said that the padyatra had a long-lasting effect on Madhya Pradesh and that all six of the cross-country march's districts will benefit Congress candidates.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power, attempted to minimize the influence of the Kanyakumari to Kashmir padyatra on the Madhya Pradesh elections.

Jitu Jirati, the vice-president of the state BJP, said that the yatra would not affect the results of the polls since people who wanted to split the nation and rebel against Sanatan Dharma were accompanying Gandhi.

"The people, especially the younger generation, understand why there was no peace in Kashmir during Congress administration. They also understand why there used to be regular communal riots under Congress administrations. However, a patriotic administration led by Narendra Modi overcame these issues and advanced the nation, he said PTI.

On November 23, 2018, Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra crossed into Madhya Pradesh from Maharashtra, passing through the assembly segments of Burhanpur and Nepanagar in the Burhanpur district.

Surendra Singh Shera, an independent who is now the Congress nominee from the constituency, won the Burhanpur seat in 2018.

Sumitra Kasdekar, a Congress candidate, won Nepanagar in 2018, however she subsequently switched parties and won the seat on a BJP ticket in a by-election in 2020.

This time around, the Burhanpur battle has become more intriguing due to the BJP's selection of former MLA Manju Dadu. Dadu is up against party renegade Harshavardhan Singh Chouhan, who is the son of former state BJP president Nand Kumar Singh Chouhan.

Later on in the Khandwa district, Gandhi's march reached the seats of Mandhata and Pandhana.

In the last elections, Ram Dangore of the BJP had won Pandhana, while Congressman Narayan Patel had won Mandhata.

On the BJP ticket, Patel, however, switched allegiances and became victorious in the 2020 bypoll. He's back in the fight.

The pilgrimage left Khandwa and proceeded via the assembly constituencies of Barwah and Bhikangaon before entering the Khargone district. In 2018, the Congress won both of these seats.

Sachin Birla, the Barwah MLA, subsequently joined the BJP, and the saffron party has put him forward once again.

The padyatra then stopped in Indore, covering all eight of the district's seats, beginning with Mhow.

Five of these eight assembly seats (Indore-2, Indore-3, Indore-4, Indore-5, and Mhow) were won by the BJP in 2018, with the Congress taking the other three seats (Rau, Indore-1, and Sanwer).

Tulsiram Silawat, the Sanwer MLA, won the seat in a 2020 by-election after subsequently joining the BJP.

On December 4, 2022, the foot march entered neighboring Rajasthan after traversing five assembly seats in the Ujjain district and then Agar Malwa and Susner assembly seats in the Agar Malwa district.

In 2018, the BJP won four of the five seats in the Ujjain district, leaving the Congress with only one to fight with.

In 2018, the BJP won the assembly seat in Agar Malwa, but the Congress took it back in a byelection in 2020 that was prompted by the passing of the incumbent MLA, Manohar Untwal.

Vikram Singh Rana, an independent who subsequently joined the BJP, won the Susner seat five years ago.

Rasheed Kidwai, a prominent writer and political analyst, predicted that Madhya Pradesh and other states headed for elections will be significantly impacted by Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra.

He remarked, "Rahul's comments regarding a caste-based census and Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation are proving to be a game changer. Rahul is now taken far more seriously."

According to Kidwai, the Congress will make significant gains even if only 2% of OBC voters in Madhya Pradesh defect from the BJP, which has almost complete control over them.

After 15 years, which ended in the party's collapse in March 2020, the Congress was finally able to create a government in the Malwa-Nimar area in 2018 after gaining 35 of the 66 seats in the region, up from nine in 2013.

Conversely, the number of BJP members fell to 28 in 2018 from 57 in 2013. Out of the area, three independent candidates had prevailed.

Votes in Madhya Pradesh, which has witnessed two governments in the previous five years—a Congress administration and a BJP one—will be tallied on December 3 after a single round of voting.