Kamal Nath’s son vs ‘Chhindwara ka beta’: In key MP seat battle, BJP bets on Congress bugbear

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP bagged 28 seats in the state, but missed out on picking Chhindwara again, where Nakul won with a margin of 37,536 votes.

This time, the BJP is set to go all out to wrest this seat, which has been firmly under Nath’s grasp for 44 years since he was first elected as an MP in 1980.

On the other hand, Vivek Bunty Sahu has so far contested from the Chhindwara Assembly constituency on the plank of “Chhindwara ka beta” in the last two elections, but failed to clinch it.

In the November 2023 Assembly elections, the BJP renominated Sahu against Nath from the Chhindwara seat, where he, BJP insiders said, “campaigned as ‘Chhindwara ka beta’ in order to counter the projection of Nath as a family member of Chhindwara voters”. Nath defeated Sahu by 35, 594 votes.

Sahu had first clashed with Nath in Chhindwara in the 2019 bypoll after the latter took over as the CM, losing by 25,837 votes.

However, several BJP leaders from the district brush aside the record of Sahu’s losses against Nath. BJP leader Alkesh Lamba said, “Kamal Nath won in 2023 elections because in Chhindwara the voters thought that he would become the chief minister. Now that is not a possibility anymore. Furthermore, Sahu has been working hard on the ground and ramping up his personal connect with the voters. This has given him a big advantage over Nakul, who is always seen by his father’s side and is unable to grow out of his shadow.”

Sahu began his career in the BJP as the state president of the party’s youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in 2011. He has been a “strong organiser” who helped mobilise several thousand youngsters to attend the events of former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other senior BJP leaders, which led to his elevation within the party.

Known to be close to Chouhan, Sahu belongs to the Teli community which has a sizeable population in the district.

Sahu has set up the Nayan Health Seva Samiti in honour of a tribal boy Nayan who died of sickle cell anemia. He has claimed to have helped over 7,000 people including around 318 cataract patients, who were provided free operations.

Sahu has also played a major role in causing an exodus of many leaders and workers from the Congress following the Assembly elections that the BJP swept. Over 1500 such Congressmen have since switched to the BJP.

On Wednesday, Sahu managed to further dent the Congress in Chhindwara as he weaned away former MLA of Chaurai Assembly and Congress state general secretary, Chaudhary Gambhir Singh, Kisan Congress president Chand Chauriya, district Congress committee vice president Satish Mishra among other leaders and got them to join the BJP fold in Bhopal in the presence of state BJP president V D Sharma.

During the 2023 Assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had tasked senior BJP leader Prahlad Patel with weakening Nath’s hold in the constituency.

Several senior BJP leaders, including Chouhan, have publicly credited Sahu for ensuring that Nath was tied down in Chhindwara during the last leg of the elections while the BJP’s star campaigners raced ahead and consolidated support for the ruling party.

Said Lamba,”The rumours surrounding Kamal Nath’s exit and the trip to Delhi has completely damaged his reputation. The Chhindwara people are also frustrated with the lack of development in the district. We aim to talk about these issues in the election.”

However, the Congress said the upcoming election will be a “walkover” for Nakul. The Nath family has been stepping up their voter outreach. Nath’s wife Priya Nath met with farmers Wednesday and was photographed harvesting crops with them.

Like Sahu, the Congress leaders have also been busy reminding voters that the Nath family has been bearing medical expenses of the local residents for years.

Congress leader Aashish Tripathi told The Indian Express, “I can count at least 100 bypass surgeries that the Nath family did free of cost. When people come to BJP for medical issues they point towards Rajiv Bhavan (Chhindwara Congress headquarters) and say Kamal Nath does free surgeries.”

The Chhindwara Congress has been working on strengthening its booth-level organisation. It has recently set up a call centre from where the party leaders are able to “relay election strategies to over 1,950 booths in under 12 hours”. “Communication is going to be our key focus. We can get our messages across to our booth level workers in interior areas with low signal etc,” said Tripathi. “Sahu lost the Assembly elections with wide margins. This is a Lok Sabha election where the scope is wider. The BJP is divided into multiple groups that oppose Sahu. This will be a walkover for us. The Nath family has been touring the constituency the whole year and enjoy a family member’s status among voters.”