BHOPAL: Two days after former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath ended speculation about his and first-time MP son Nakul Nath’s possible switch to the BJP, the present CM Mohan Yadav fuelled fresh political speculation during his visit to Nath’s pocket borough of Chhindwara on Wednesday.
Addressing a public gathering in Chhindwara city’s Dussehra Ground after a host of local Congress leaders joined the BJP, Yadav said “Many people are wavering, they will join our family if not today then tomorrow, none in the world can stop them from joining us. We welcome all those who’ve joined us, as we’ve to serve the country.”
Addressing the gathering after holding a 3-km long crowded roadshow in Chhindwara city, the CM said, “Chhindwara is ushering love, your feelings clearly indicate that Lord Hanuman’s Gada (mace) will certainly revolve and render victory to the BJP this time in Chhindwara.”
The CM also maintained that no government schemes will be closed and the next Rs 1250 monthly instalment under the CM Ladli Behna Scheme will be credited into the accounts of the beneficiary women on March 1 (instead of 10th of the month) keeping in mind the festivals of Mahashivaratri and Holi.
On his first tour to Chhindwara since taking oath as MP CM on December 13, Yadav also laid the foundation and unveiled projects worth Rs 104 crore for Chhindwara and Pandhurna districts, which house the seven assembly segments of Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency.
The same event saw a host of local Congress leaders (all loyalists of Kamal Nath and son Nakul Nath), including state Congress general secretary Ujjwal Singh Chouhan and Pandhurna Nagar Palika head Sandip Ghatode join the BJP along with 16 village sarpanchs and one Janpad Panchayat member.
Importantly, six Congress MLAs from Chhindwara and Pandhurna districts were among those who were not present at the state Congress meeting in Bhopal on Tuesday, which was focused on Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra related plans for MP.
Yadav’s visit to Chhindwara on Wednesday came nearly two months after the previous MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had launched Mission 29 (campaign to win all 29 LS seats of MP) from Chhindwara on December 6.
Yadav’s visit to Chhindwara assumed particular significance, as it came just a few days after the buzz about ex-MP CM and local Congress MLA Kamal Nath and his local MP son Nakul Nath joining the BJP ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’s arrival in MP. However, the speculation was put to rest by Nath reportedly after phone calls from the Congress top brass.
The Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat, which has been won nine times by Kamal Nath, once by wife Alka Nath and once by elder son Nakul Nath since 1980, was the only seat which the Congress managed to win in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in MP. Four years later, though the Congress performed disastrously losing the assembly polls in the state, it swept all seven seats of Chhindwara and Pandhurna districts just like the 2018 assembly polls.
Prior to coming to Chhindwara on Wednesday, the MP CM had participated in a similar program in adjoining Balaghat district, where the Congress had won four out of the six seats in the recent assembly elections.