The Rajgarh constituency in Madhya Pradesh, which is being touted as a scorching seat this Lok Sabha elections with Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh contesting towards two-time BJP MP Rodmal Nagar, is all set to vote on May 7, within the third part of the following common polls.
So far within the common elections, Congress gained 9 elections from this seat, the Jansangh-BJP 6 instances, the Janta Party twice and an impartial candidate additionally gained the seat solely as soon as. This time, Congress has pitted Digvijaya Singh towards two-time BJP’s Rodmal Nagar, who has been profitable the elections since 2014.
Even earlier than the discharge of Congress’ official, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh had introduced that he could be the social gathering’s Lok Sabha candidate from Rajgarh, marking his return to the seat after greater than three many years. Singh is contesting the constituency, thought of his pocket borough, after a niche of 33 years.
The veteran Congress chief, who represented Rajgarh in Parliament again within the Eighties and early 90s, is returning to his dwelling turf after three many years. This election is vital not just for Singh’s fame but in addition for the way forward for Congress in Madhya Pradesh, which closely depends on him.
Digvijaya Singh, the son of Balbhadra Singh, the Raja of Raghogarh (below the Gwalior State), started his political profession in 1969 when he was elected as president of the Raghogarh municipality. In 1977, the post-Emergency election when the Congress was worn out throughout the nation, Digvijaya gained from the Raghogarh Assembly constituency and gained Ragogarh twice extra – in 1998 and 2003.
In 1984, Digvijaya entered the Lok Sabha as an MP from Rajgarh. However, in 1989, Digvijaya misplaced from Rajgarh to the BJP’s Pyarelal Khandelwal. In 1989, the BJP was a part of the Janata Dal coalition led by VP Singh that defeated the Congress on the Centre. With the Janata Dal coalition authorities quickly collapsing, Digvijaya gained the seat again within the 1991 Lok Sabha elections. When he returned again to state politics for a 10-year stint as CM, his brother Laxman Singh gained the seat the subsequent 5 instances for the Congress.
Digvijaya Singh at the moment serves as a Member of Parliament within the Rajya Sabha and is a everlasting invitee to the Congress Working Committee, the social gathering’s highest decision-making physique. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he contested from Bhopal however misplaced to BJP candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur by over 3.6 lakh votes.
While Digvijaya has himself been out of electoral politics within the state since his CM spell from 1993 to 2003, he has all the time been a first-rate goal for the BJP. Union Minister Amit Shah who held a public rally in Rajgarh final month to drum up the assist for the BJP’s candidate took a dig at Singh and requested the gathering to offer the latter’s political profession a “grand farewell”.
Shah recited the Urdu couplet “aashiq ka janaaza hai, zara dhoom se nikle” (it’s a lover’s funeral procession, let it transfer forward grandly) to take a swipe at Singh. He additionally slammed Rahul Gandhi and Digvijaya Singh for declining the invitation to attend the consecration of Ram Lalla’s idol in Ayodhya, saying their transfer was guided purely by vote-bank politics.
“Do you know why shehzada Rahul Gandhi and Diggi Raja (Digvijaya Singh) did not attend the consecration of Ram Lalla’s idol at Ayodhya? Because they are afraid of their vote-bank and therefore, they should never be pardoned,” he famous. Meanwhile, Rajgarh has been slipping away from the Congress, at the same time as Laxman Singh’s personal loyalties have swung between the social gathering and BJP.
The 2023 Assembly elections too didn’t go the Congress’s manner in Rajgarh. Of the eight Assembly segments falling below the Rajgarh Lok Sabha constituency – Chachoura, Raghogarh, Narsinghgarh, Biaora, Rajgarh, Khilchipur, Sarangpur (SC) and Susner – the Congress solely gained Raghogarh, the place Digvijaya’s son and inheritor Jaivardhan was the candidate. In the final two common elections, 2014 and 2019, the constituency was gained by the BJP’s MP Rodmal Nagar.
Nagar first acquired the ticket in 2014 after which retained it in 2019 regardless of native BJP opposition. In 2019, Nagar gained towards Congress candidate Mona Sustani by 4.31 lakh votes (a vote share of 65.37 per cent). Rajgarh will go to polls on May 7 in part three of the seven-phased ensuing common elections.Â
