Madhya Pradesh Election 2023: Stage Set For BJP Vs Congress Fight. A Look At Key Seats And Candidates

MP Election 2023: With voters in Madhya Pradesh set to exercise their franchise on November 17, here is a profile of the state and important seats to watch out for.

BJP vs Congress: MP elections crucial test for both parties. ( Image Source :PTI )

MP Assembly Election 2023: Madhya Pradesh will go to the hustings on November 17 and the results will be critical for BJP and Congress as the election comes nearly six months before the Lok Sabha polls. Located at the centre of India's map, Madhya Pradesh has been the central focus for Congress, which won the last election but lost power as 22 MLAs, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, switched to BJP to bring it to power. 

A mandate for the BJP will definitely boost the saffron party's morale, and if Congress wins it back, it will be a big gain for the grand old party which is trying to establish its stronghold ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Key Seats, Candidates To Look For In MP Elections

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the results for MP polls along with four other states -- Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram -- on December 3.

All eyes would be on key 29 seats in the state. Budhni is Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's seat, which he is representing since 2006, and will remain a crucial seat this time as well. 

Former MP CM Kamal Nath's home turf Chhindwara is another important constituency. He has been a nine-time Congress MP from here and won his maiden assembly polls in May 2019 after becoming CM in December 2018. Dimni is another key seat from where the BJP has fielded sitting MP and Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Currently, Congress's Ravindra Singh Tomar Bhidosa is MLA from here. 

Another seat where the BJP has announced a Union Minister and strong OBC leader for contesting polls is Narsinghpur. Prahlad Singh Patel will represent the BJP here. Niwas, Indore-1, Datia are some other constituencies where BJP has fielded key party leaders. Similarly, Congress bastion Lahar will also be in the eye of the electoral battle this time.

Other important seats include Harsud, Sanwer, Sanchi, Gwalior, Surkhi, Badnawar, Bamori and Raghogarh among others.

For the BJP, sitting CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the face for the Chief Minister post and Kamal Nath for the Congress. Both parties are hurling accusations at each other on a range of issues from women empowerment, unemployment, poverty, farm distress to education and more. Both have been campaigning on their respective set of promises leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters.

Campaigns And Promises

PM Narendra Modi, BJP President JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are some of the big names campaigning for the party while Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are leading the charge for the Congress.

CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government has launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojna’ with a budget of Rs 8,000 crore, promising a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 to women. Furthermore, the Chief Minister has expressed intentions to increase this amount to Rs 3,000. Whereas, Congress has already promised 11 guarantees, including Rs 1,500 per month per head to women, an LPG cylinder at Rs 500, old pension scheme for government employees, farmers’ loan waiver, 27 per cent reservation to OBCs and free electricity for first 100 units power consumption among others.

In ABP News-C Voter Survey, 43 per cent of the respondents said they would like to have Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the CM while 42 per cent favoured Congress candidate Kamal Nath. The poll hints towards a close fight. On the other hand, as per the survey, Congress is likely to win 113-125 seats while BJP may mag 104-116 showing that the grand old party can win the polls but the course is not going to be easy.

2018 Election Results

In the last elections, Congress had emerged as the single largest party with 114 seats while BJP bagged 109. Interestingly, the margin of victory or defeat on 10 seats in Madhya Pradesh was less than 1000 (BJP won 3, Congress won 7). The difference between victory and defeat on 8 seats was between one to two thousand (BJP won 5, Congress won 3). Whereas on 12 seats, the margin was between two to three thousand (6 BJP won, 5 Congress won, 1 BSP won).