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Six ministers battle in the Mahakaushal region of MP

Six ministers battle in the Mahakaushal region of MP

The Mahakaushal region of Madhya Pradesh comprising 11 districts and 63 assembly constituencies will witness a keen battle in which the fate of six ministers of the Digvijay Singh Cabinet will be decided.

In the 1993 assembly election, the Congress had made major gains by wresting several Vidhan Sabha seats from its main rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party. But the 1998 election, with the anti-incumbency factor hanging over it, could be a different ball game for the Congress. Most party candidates are facing tough competition from their BJP rivals.

As the date of polling draws near, the BJP's campaign seems to be gaining ground, with leaders like Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and party president Shashikant 'Kushabhau' Thakre visiting the region.

Among the prominent Congress ministers contesting the elections are Finance Minister Ajay Narain Mushran from Narsinghpur, Home Minister Harvansh Singh from Kevlari in Seoni district, Madhya Pradesh PCC president Urmila Singh from Ghansaur in Mandla district, Health Minister Ram Kumar Patel from Majholi in Jabalpur district, Forest Minister K Lakhiram Kavre from Kirnapur in Balaghat district, Public Health Engineering Minister Deepak Saxena from Chhindwara district and former health minister Prem Narain Thakur from Amerwada also in Chhindawara district.

The Congress campaign had received a boost when Sonia Gandhi visited Jabalpur, Mandla and Sidhi districts on January 20. However, the BJP has been having it easier an upbeat mood ever since.

In the last assembly polls held in November 1993, the Congress won 40 seats followed by the BJP with 19. Of the remaining four seats, two went to the Janata Dal and one each to the Samata Party and the Republican Party of India.

In these elections there was a direct contest in 59 constituencies between the Congress and the BJP while the remaining will witness a triangular fight.

The Congress had inducted many new faces in its candidate list this time. In the nine constituencies in Jabalpur district, other than for Minister of State for Health Ramkumar Patel from Majholi and Lalit Srivastava from Jabalpur central, all the seven other candidates were new faces.

The ruling party in the state, specially after Chief Minister Digvijay Singh's visit to the region, has taken pains to convey to the electorate that the party was earnest in its commitment to bring in only such candidates who had a 'clean image'.

The BJP on the other hand had gone in for 'tried and tested' candidates. Of the seven sitting MLAs, only Jaishri Banerji from Jabalpur West and Naresh Tripathi from Patan, were not given tickets.

While most of the 63 seats in the region will witness straight fights between the Congress and the BJP, in at least a dozen constituencies the votes might be divided because of the presence of Janata Dal and independent candidates, some of whom, like Kanker Munjare (Janata Party) from Paraswada constituency in Balaghat district, can also spring a surprise. JD nominee, Bachchan Nayak, from Badwara constituency in Katni district, was another strong candidate.

The JD may also be helped by the undercurrent of dissent in both the Congress and the BJP. Workers from both parties were not happy with the selection of candidates.

The Communist Party of India, which has fielded candidates in a host of constituencies, was also likely to influence the outcome of the election results this time. CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan was very optimistic of opening its tally for the first time in the region.

Yet another problem being faced by the two major political adversaries, was the emergence of the Ajay Bharat Party of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The ABP had fielded candidates at almost all the 63 constituencies.

ABP had announced a special programme of Rs 50 million for Jabalpur if the party candidates were elected from the four city constituencies.

The party's election campaign was being directed by the former education minister in the Digvijay Singh cabinet Mukesh Nayak, who joined the ABP after resigning from the Congress.

Assembly Elections '98

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