File Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and others during a roadshow in Bhopal, Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
With a clean sweep of 29 out of 29 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, the underlying message remains clear: Madhya Pradesh continues to be an infallible stronghold for the BJP, much like Gujarat. At the time this report was filed, the BJP, with a 60 per cent vote share, was comfortably leading in all 29 seats, including Chhindwara. Meanwhile, the Congress secured approximately 32.44 per cent of the vote share. In 2019, the only seat the BJP lost was Chhindwara, which went to Nakul Nath, son of former CM and Congress stalwart Kamal Nath.
Shankar Lalwani of the BJP made history by winning the Indore seat with a margin of over 11.75 lakh votes. Former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, contesting from Vidisha, recorded the second-highest victory margin of over 821,000 votes, followed by Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna-Shivpuri) with approximately 550,000 votes.
However, the stock market reflected volatility amid twists and turns in the seat tally. The Indore LS seat also created history for the highest number of NOTA votes (over 2 lakh) cast at the appeal of the Congress party. The grand old party felt cheated after Akshay Kanti Bam, its candidate from the constituency, withdrew his nomination at the last minute, delivering a cakewalk for the BJP's Shankar Lalwani.
Interestingly, the BJP had to shift gears following the low voter turnout, especially among women, in the first and second phases of polling on April 19 and April 26, respectively. It aimed to improve its performance, aspiring to score a clean sweep this time around. In 2019, the voter turnout in Madhya Pradesh was around 71.12 per cent, attributed to a spirited response. Issues like the Pulwama strike, together with the 'Modi wave,' resonated strongly with voters last time. This election, the overall voting percentage declined marginally by approximately 4.25 percentage points to 66.87 per cent. Male voter turnout was 69.37 per cent, higher than female voter turnout at 64.24 per cent.
The BJP benefited from political dividends arising out of welfare scheme beneficiaries (Labharthis), who bolstered the party's vote share. In only six seats did the female voter turnout surpass the male voter turnout, including Vidisha (3.81 per cent), Rajgarh (3.42 per cent), Guna (3.18 per cent), Gwalior (3.05 per cent), Bhind (1.99 per cent), and Sagar (1.14 per cent). In contrast, female voter turnout dropped sharply in Khajuraho (12.09 per cent) and Indore (7.84 per cent) compared to men, perhaps due to one-sided contests with hardly any opposition, apart from Independents.
The polling schedule, stretching across four phases in the state (though seven phases nationally), will be remembered for many surprises. These included the withdrawal of Congress candidate Akshay Kanti Bam at the last minute for the Indore Parliament seat, the rejection of the SP candidate Meera Yadav's (I.N.D.I.A alliance candidate) B Form on the pretext of an incomplete form (without signature) for the Khajuraho seat, and the presence of several turncoats in the fray.