The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday continued its winning streak in the local body elections in Madhya Pradesh by taking mayor’s posts in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Chhindwara, thus capturing power in 13 municipal corporations in all. The saffron party’s victory in Chhindwara was a jolt to former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath. The region is considered a stronghold of Nath. The city witnessed its first civic poll after being upgraded as a municipal corporation.
Kamal Nath has been winning Chhindwara lok Sabha seat since 1980 except once when he lost to former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Sunderlal Patwa. The BJP retained the mayor’s post in Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur with handsome margins. The saffron party’s winning streak has remained unchecked since 2003 when it ousted Digvijay Singh’s Congress Government in the State.
In the first phase too it had won in all the nine municipalities. In Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Chhindwara, the elections were held on January 31, in the second phase. Election will be held in Ujjain later. BJP’s Alok Sharma defeated Congress’s Kailash Mishra by a margin of 86,332 votes in Bhopal. In Indore, its candidate Malini Gaud (an MlA) won by a margin of 2,46,596 votes, defeating Congress candidate Archana Jaiswal.
In Jabalpur, BJP’s Swati Godbole defeated Congress’s Gita Sharat Tiwari by 85,491 votes while in Chhindwara, BJP’s Kanta Yogesh Sadarang defeated Congress’s Kalpana Rajendra Suryawanshi by a margin of 9,588 votes. The party had secured convincing leads in ward level elections in all these places. Till the filing of the report, in Bhopal, the BJP has succeeded in forming its council by bagging more 42 wards.