How BJP chipped away at Kamal Nath bastion Chhindwara

BHOPAL: Brick by brick, BJP chipped away at Kamal Nath’s fortress of 45 years in Chhindwara till Congress’ last citadel in Madhya Pradesh fell on Tuesday, and Nakul Nath, the son of the former chief minister, lost by over 1.13 lakh votes to BJP’s Vivek Bunty Sahu.
BJP national president JP Nadda had told a huge rally just days before polling: “Badal gaya zamana, ab badal dalo Chhindwara (Times have changed, now change Chhindwara).”
Chhindwara finally changed on Tuesday, defeating the legacy of Kamal Nath, who had campaigned extensively, telling people, “I have dedicated my youth and life to Chhindwara, I will serve Chhindwara till my last breath.”
He repeated the same promise after Nakul’s defeat.“The decision of Chhindwara voters is a matter of great respect. Chhindwara is my family. I spent my entire life serving Chhindwara and will continue to do so till my last breath. I express my gratitude to all Congress workers who worked hard with all their might. We have to struggle further and build a golden Chhindwara.”
BJP had declared war on Nath and left no stone unturned to wrest Chhindwara — a constituency less than 100km from the RSS headquarters in Nagpur but which had withstood multiple saffron tsunamis. Ever since former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched Kamal Nath as the Congress candidate in 1980 after introducing him as her “third son”, Chhindwara had remained faithful to him.
Nath lost only once, to former BJP chief minister Sundarlal Patwa by 37,680 votes in the 1997 bypoll. But bounced back the next year, defeating Patwa by 1.5 lakh votes. His wife Alka Nath won the seat in 1996, when Nath was named in an alleged hawala scam and denied the ticket. The baton passed to Nakul after Nath Sr became CM.
BJP had been eyeing Chhindwara since 2003 but the Nath bastion stayed with Congress. In the saffron wave of 2019, it was the last Congress fortress standing. Even in the 2023 rout in MP, Congress still won all seven seats in Chhindwara. This was the pocket where Congress ruled, from panchayats to Parliament.
BJP reworked its strategy to demolish the Nath bastion. Lacking a strong enough candidate, BJP started weakening Congress. Starting Jan 2024, BJP kept poaching Nath’s loyalists and Congress workers. First, a group of Congress corporators defected. Then, former MLA from Chourai, Choudhary Gambhir Singh, who was close to Nath. Hundreds of Congress workers started moving and accepting BJP membership. Sitting Congress MLA Kamlesh Shah from Amarwada — the segment that gave the biggest lead to Nakul Nath in 2019 — also quit and joined BJP. Next, it was Chhindwara mayor Vikram Ahake, considered Nakul’s shadow, who switched. The final blow came from former minister Deepak Saxena.
Nath was left fighting a lonely battle against the might of BJP. The ruling party put former BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya in charge of election management in Chhindwara. Amit Shah led a road show 55 hours before polling and halted there for the night to teach BJP office-bearers how to micro-manage booths.
Nakul Nath’s wife Priya Nath told party workers, “The people we trusted and considered our own, betrayed us.”
The Congress top brass — including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — did not campaign in Chhindwara. Nath went down fighting.