BHOPAL: The loss of its tribal fort in the recent Lok Sabha polls has turned out to be blessing in disguise for the ruling Congress in Madhya Pradesh.
Just ten days ago, the Congress suffered a massive jolt losing 28 out of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP to the BJP. The 28 seats included Ratlam-Jhabua-ST seat, which has long been a Congress citadel.
First-time BJP MLA Guman Singh Damor defeated five-time sitting Congress MP and ex-union minister Kantilal Bhuria, just five months after he defeated the powerful tribal leader’s medico son Dr Vikrant Bhuria from Jhabua assembly seat in the 2018 assembly polls.
The loss of Ratlam-Jhabua parliamentary constituency, however, turned out to be blessing in disguise for Congress in the state, as state BJP president Rakesh Singh announced on Tuesday that it has been decided that Damor will quit from the State Assembly membership, to just remain the MP from the prestigious tribal constituency.
This development has necessitated a by-election to Jhabua assembly seat (hometown of Kantilal Bhuria) rendering the Congress an opportunity to get a step closer to the majority mark in the closely contested Vidhan Sabha.
In the 230-member Vidhan Sabha, the Congress, which needs 116 seats for a majority on its own, has 114 seats, while the BJP had 109 seats. The four independents, two BSP and one SP MLA were supporting the Congress, bring the combined numbers of the ruling dispensation to 121.
However, with Damor set to quit the state assembly now, the BJP numbers will fall to 108, while the Congress will only be one less than changed majority figure of 115 seats in the 229-member house, once the BJP MLA quits.
Humbled at stronghold
The 28 Lok Sabha seats that the Congress lost in Madhya Pradesh included Ratlam-Jhabua-ST constituency, which had been its stronghold for a long time