Bhopal: Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday August 18 was on a tour of Chhindwara, the stronghold of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and state Congress chief Kamal Nath.
The BJP’s central leadership has appointed Singh as in-charge of Chhindwara, and he is on a three-day tour of the district, as part of the BJP’s strategy to make inroads in Kamal Nath’s bastion. Sources in MP BJP told IANS that Singh will be meeting with the party’s cadre and chalk out plans to take on Kamal Nath.
Singh reached Chhindwara on Wednesday via Nagpur. He visited the Jamsavali temple and recited Hanuman Chalisa along with MP minister Kamal Patel and other party workers. “Singh is in Chhindwara for three days. He will tour the district to meet the people. He will also hold meetings with the local party workers,” said a BJP leader in Madhya Pradesh.
Chhindwara is the only district in Madhya Pradesh where the Congress won all eight Assembly seats in 2018 and Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath is an MP from Chhindwara. Before his son’s win, Kamal Nath won the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat nine times.
In Madhya Pradesh, like Gwalior-Chambal is considered a stronghold of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Raghogarh of veteran Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, Chhindwara is the home turf of Kamal Nath.
Sources said that Giriraj Singh has been tasked to encourage the BJP cadre in Chhindwara and to weaken Kamal Nath. It is also the BJP’s plan to attack Congress’s stronghold area to counter Gwalior’s loss in the Mayoral post.
However, the Congress leaders said Giriraj Singh will not make any impact in Chhindwara. “We are not worried about Giriraj Singh’s visit to Chhindwara. People know what kind of politician he is. He will try to disrupt the communal harmony, for what he is popularly known,” said K.K. Mishra, MP Congress media head.
It is not the first time when the BJP has appointed it’s strong leaders to take on Kamal Nath, especially in his home district Chhindwara. The other BJP leaders, who were earlier appointed as in-charge of Chhindwara were — Uma Bharti, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Prakash Javadekar, Kailash Soni and Swatantra Dev Singh, however, except for Uma Bharti the rest could not make any impact there.
