Priyanka to kick-start Congress poll campaign in MP today

With five months left for the next Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will launch the poll campaign on Monday from Jabalpur.

Also known as 'Mahakaushal', the Jabalpur region is turning out to be the centre of power politics.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) played it's masterstroke with releasing the first instalment of the newly launched 'Ladli Behna Yojana' from Jabalpur on June 10, and the opposition Congress is all set to kick-start it's campaign with a mega roadshow of its .

The MP Congress led by seasoned leader Kamal Nath has prepared a plan to counter the BJP's women centric financial scheme in the name of 'Nari Samman Yojana' along with cooking gas at subsidised rate of Rs 500 and electricity at cheaper rate to all kinds of consumers. As these three schemes are women centric, Priyanka Gandhi will make an appeal for women to support the party.

As the Mahakaushal and Vindhya regions were untouched by Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, therefore, the party has decided to launch its poll campaign from Jabalpur, which holds significance due to its substantial tribal voter population. In the previous Assembly polls held in 2018, the Congress secured victory in 11 out of the 13 Scheduled Tribe reserved seats in the eight-district division.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said, "Priyaka Gandhi's rally in Jabalpur will also benefit the Congress in the neighbouring Vindhya and Bundelkhand regions. Notably, the ruling BJP has bagged 24 out of the 30 Assembly seats in 2018, the Congress is striving hard to re-strengthen its feet in the region.

Madhya Pradesh is divided into six regions, namely Mahakoshal, Gwalior-Chambal, Central India, Nimar-Malwa, Vindhya Pradesh and Bundelkhand. The Mahakoshal region, also known as Jabalpur division, comprises the districts of Jabalpur, Katni, Seoni, Narsinghpur, Balaghat, Mandla, Dindori, and Chhindwara, with a total of 38 Assembly seats.

In the previous Assembly elections, the Congress secured victory in 24 of these seats, while the BJP won 13. Additionally, one seat was won by an Independent candidate. However, in the 2013 polls, the BJP emerged victorious in 24 seats, leaving the Congress with only 13 wins.

The Congress's success in Mahakoshal during the 2018 elections enabled them to form a government in Madhya Pradesh, with Kamal Nath as the Chief Minister. However, the government collapsed in March 2020 when MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia defected to the BJP. (IANS/NS)