MLA quitting may hit Congress prospects in Chhindwara

Bhopal: In a blow to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, party’s Amarwada MLA Kamlesh Shah (51) tendered his resignation and joined the BJP here on Friday.

Amarwada is part of the Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency, a Congress stronghold.  

Shah reportedly joined the BJP due to senior Congress leader Kamal Nath’s “dynastic approach and arrogant behavior”. 

Chhindwara is the home turf of Nath.

Before switching the camp, Shah relinquished his Congress membership as well as MLA post. Shah, who hails from a royal background, said the entire state was “swayed” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “charisma”.

‘Big boost’

Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav said the Congress lawmaker’s entry would be a big boost to the saffron party, which hopes to bag all the 29 Lok Sabha seats in the central Indian state. In 2019, the party had won all the seats barring Chhindwara.

In the 2023 Assembly election, the Congress performed well in all the seven segments of Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency with an overall lead of 97,464 votes ahead of the BJP. While the BJP bagged a total of 5,81,091 votes, the Congress polled 6,78,737 votes from all the seven seats.

Six Lok Sabha seats in MP, including Chhindwara, are going to polls in the first phase on April 19. 

The BJP has fielded Vivek Bunty Sahu, who has lost Assembly elections twice, in Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat. With Shah joining the BJP, the party hopes to sway the results in its favour. 

With Shah’s resignation, the strength of the Congress in MP Assembly has come down to 65. In the 230-strong House, the ruling BJP has a majority with 163 members.