Lok Sabha polls 2024 | Battle lines drawn in Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand, Vindhya

Madhya Pradesh Lok Sabha elections: BJP vs. Congress in caste-driven politics, with national leaders campaigning in key regions.

Sharing their boundaries with Uttar Pradesh, Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions of Madhya Pradesh have many similarities with the neighbouring State - from dialects and culture to the prominence of caste factor in politics.

Five out of six seats of Madhya Pradesh that go to polls in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election on Friday fall in these regions. The six seats are Rewa and Satna of Vindhyachal; Khajuraho, Tikamgarh (SC) and Damoh of Bundelkhand; and Hoshangabad.

At present, all the six seats are held by the Bharatiya Janata Party whereas the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) this time hopes to benefit from the caste equations, anti-incumbency against sitting MPs, and local issues.

Local leaders of the Opposition bloc, however, had been forced to lead their campaign on their own as among the national leaders only Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had campaigned here. Mr. Kharge held a rally in Satna last week as he filled in for party leader Rahul Gandhi, who could not make it due to health reasons.

On the other hand, the BJP’s campaigning has been led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J.P. Nadda. Even on Wednesday, Mr. Modi held two rallies in Sagar that borders Damoh, and Betul that borders Hoshangabad. He capped it all off with a roadshow in capital Bhopal.

Meanwhile, fortunes of candidates in Khajuraho where State BJP chief V. D. Sharma is contesting, Tikamgarh where Union Minister Virendra Kumar Khateek is in fray, and Satna where four-term MP Ganesh Singh is battling retain his seat, will also be keenly watched.

The Khajuraho seat had made headlines recently when the nomination of Meera Yadav, INDIA bloc’s Samajwadi Party candidate, was rejected by the returning officer due to irregularities in her form, forcing the SP and Congress to extend their last-minute support to All India Forward Bloc candidate R.B. Prajapati, an ex-IAS officer. The rejection was slammed by both parties as “murder of democracy” by the ruling BJP.