MP polls: Bharat Jodo Yatra fails to boost Cong; BJP wins 17 of 21 seats it covered

The Congress' hopes of the Bharat Jodo Yatra paying dividends in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls have been dashed with the Bharatiya Janata Party winning 17 of the 21 seats from which the Rahul Gandhi-led yatra passed.

The BJP on Sunday cruised to a two-thirds majority in Madhya Pradesh assembly, winning as many as 163 of the 230 seats in the House, leaving the Congress a distant second at 66. Between November 23 and December 4 last year, the Bharat Jodo Yatra covered 380 kilometres through six districts of MP's Malwa-Nimar region, namely Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone, Indore, Ujjain and Agar Malwa, which cumulatively have 21 seats.

In 2018, the BJP won 14 of these seats, while the Congress emerged victorious on seven. This time, the BJP bettered its tally to 17, reducing the Congress to four seats. BJP's Archana Chitnis won Burhanpur and Manju Dadu won Nepanagar assembly segments in Burhanpur district. The Burhanpur seat was won in 2018 by Independent candidate Surendra Singh Shera, who was the Congress candidate this time. In 2018, Congress' Sumitra Kasdekar won Nepanagar seat, but she later changed sides and was elected on a BJP ticket in the 2020 bypoll.

The BJP has retained this seat. BJP's Narayan Patel and Chhaya More also won from Mandhata and Pandhana, respectively.

In 2018, Pandhana seat was won by BJP's Ram Dangore, while Narayan Patel of the Congress won from Mandhata seat.

Patel later shifted to the BJP and won a bypoll in 2020. He was given the ticket again by the ruling party. In Khargone district, the Bharat Jodo Yatra passed through Badwah and Bhikangaon assembly seats. While BJP's Sachin Birla won from Badwah, Congress candidate Jhuma Solanki emerged victorious in Bhikangangaon.

Both the seats were won by the Congress in 2018. Badwah MLA Sachin Birla later joined the BJP. The Bharat Jodo Yatra covered all eight seats of Indore district. The BJP emerged victorious in all the eight seats.

BJP's Usha Thakur and Madhu Verma won from Mhow and Rau, respectively. In Indore-1 seat, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya won by defeating sitting MLA Sanjay Shukla.

BJP's Ramesh Mendola (Indore-2), Golu Shukla (Indore-3), Malini Gaud (Indore-4) and Mahendra Hardia (Indore-5) also won.

Besides, Tulsi Silawat, who switched over to the saffron party from the Congress in 2020, won from Sanwer seat. Before crossing into Rajasthan on December 4 last year, the Bharat Jodo Yatra covered Agar Malwa and Susner Assembly seats of Agar Malwa district. BJP's Madhav Singh won Agar Malwa seat, while Bhairo Singh of the Congress bagged Susner seat. The BJP won the Agar Malwa assembly seat in 2018 but lost it to the Congress in a 2020 bypoll, necessitated by the death of sitting MLA Manohar Untwal.

The Susner assembly seat was won in 2018 by Independent candidate Vikram Singh Rana, who later joined the BJP. BJP's Mohan Yadav and Anil Jain won from Ujjain South and Ujjain North seats, respectively. Satish Malviya of the BJP won from Ghatiya and Mahesh Parmar of the Congress emerged victorious from Tarana seat.

Dinesh Jain from the Congress won Mahidpur assembly seat. In 2018, four of the five seats in Ujjain districts were won by the BJP, leaving the Congress with just one victory. The four seats which the Congress won on the route that the yatra covered in MP are Bhikangaon, Tarana, Mahidpur and Susner.

Incidentally, Congress leaders had claimed that the Bharat Jodo Yatra was the reason for the Congress' win in Karanataka in May this year. In the southern state, the party won 15 of the 20 assembly seats through which the Rahul Gandhi-led yatra passed. Later in October this year, the Congress gave credit to the yatra for its win in polls to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil.