Kamlesh Shah, Congress MLA from Kamal Nath's bastion Chhindwara, joins BJP

Kamlesh Shah maintained that the entire state is swayed by PM Modi’s charisma. Shah said he joined BJP due to Kamla Nath’s dynastic approach and arrogant behavior.

Bhopal: In a big blow to the Congress in MP and ahead of first phase of Lok Sabha polls, sitting congress MLA Kamesh Shah (51) from Amarwada assembly seat joined the saffron camp here on Friday. Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav, state BJP president VD Sharma and other party functionaries were also present on this occasion.

Before joining the BJP today, Shah relinquished the primary membership of Congress party together with legislative post which was accepted by assembly speaker Narendra Singh Tomar. The notice of Shah’s resignation from the assembly will be sent to the Election Commission so that the commission can start the process of by-election there. With Shah's resignation, the grand old party's strength in the state Assembly has come down to 65 members.

Out of a total 230-member house of MP, BJP has a majority with 163 members and one seat of Sailana is represented by Adivasi Party MLA Kamleshwar Dondiyar.

CM Yadav while welcoming Shah, said his entry will be a big boost to BJP which hopes to clinch all 29 seats in MP. Shah hails from royal background and erstwhile rulers of Gond tribal community. He maintained that the entire state is swayed by PM Modi’s charisma. Shah said he joined BJP due to Kamla Nath’s dynastic approach and arrogant behavior.

Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat comprises 7 assembly segments namely Chhindwara, Junnardeo, Amarwada, Churai, Saunsar,Parasia and Pandhurna. In the recently concluded assembly election 2023, the Congress performance in Chhindwara has been ranked among the best with a lead of 97, 464 votes collectively in all segments. The BJP’s total vote tally was 5,81,091 votes while the Congress received 6,78,737 votes in all 7 assembly seats.

In the first phase of Lok Sabha election on 19th April 2024, six seats of MP including Sidhi, Shahdol in Vindhya region, and Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara in Mahakaushal region will go to polls. Among them all eyes are on the Chhindwara seat because this was the only seat out of 29 in the state, the BJP could not win in the 2019 LS election. The BJP has fielded Vivek Bunty Sahu who lost assembly election twice from Chhindwara seat. Amid joining of Shah into the BJP fold today, the battle for the Nath bastion will be one to watch out for.

Another LS seat of Mandla is also set to witness a keen contest this time. The BJP sitting MP Faggan Singh Kulaste has been fielded again against former minister Omkar Singh Markam of Congress party. Kulaste, though he lost the assembly election of 2023 (after BJP fielded him as their candidate), is considered a strong tribal face and leader for the party.

On the other hand Makran of Congress has won the assembly election from Dindori four times in a row. In Shahdol, BJP has given a ticket to sitting MP Himandri Singh. The congress has fielded three-time MLA Phundelal Marko. In the first phase, 8 new faces from BJP and congress are contesting LS election for the first time.