Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Congress made several attempts to win the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat in the past. The party has also fielded many candidates from this seat. But its strategies have fallen through.
As a result, the BJP has been winning this constituency for the past 35 years. In the ongoing Lok Sabha election, too, the Congress has failed to put up any fight before the ruling party. Keeping the Kayastha voters in mind, the Congress has fielded Arun Shrivastava against BJP’s Alok Sharma. By giving a ticket to Shrivastava the Congress has tried to drum up Muslim, SC and Kayastha votes. With the help of the votes of these communities, the party wants to put up a fight before the BJP.
Nevertheless, there are doubts whether the Congress’s plan will succeed. Lack of enthusiasm among voters may impact the percentage of voting. On the other hand, the BJP is trying to bring as many voters as possible to booths. The Congress is trying to woo Kayasth voters. The party candidate set up a control room from where Kayasth voters are advised to support the community, but the strategy has failed to evoke much response. There are 24 lakh voters in Bhopal. A large chunk of voters is Muslim.
Apart from more than five lakh Muslim voters, there are over three lakh Brahmin, 2.50 lakh Kayastha, two lakh SC, Sindhi, Jain and OBC voters. Most of the Muslims will cast votes for the Congress, but it will be difficult for both the parties to get full support of any other community. It is not possible for the Congress to get the Kayasth vote. Similarly, the BJP may not get the full support of the Brahmins.
This is the reason why caste equations do not hold the key to the victory of a candidate in Bhopal. In the past, the Congress fielded the stalwarts, like Digvijaya Singh, Suresh Pachouri, Arif Baig and Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi from this constituency, but that did not benefit the party. For this reason, the Congress has given a ticket to a low-profile leader.
Assembly poll arithmetic, In favour of BJP
The Lok Sabha constituency consists of Bhopal north, central, south-west, Huzur, Narela, Govindpura, Berasia, and Sehore assembly seats. Out of these eight assembly seats, the BJP has won six and the Congress two. As far as the Lok Sabha election is concerned, the BJP looks stronger than its rival in six seats and the Congress in two.
