Congress likely to improve its seat tally in Jabalpur district

The Congress may be poised to make inroads into Jabalpur district. Lack of drinking water, a fierce outbreak of dengue and chikungunya, poor healthcare facilities, potholed roads, hour-long jams and a general fatigue with 15 years of BJP regime may help the Congress give the ruling party a tough fight in its stronghold.

Jabalpur, touted as MP’s culture capital, represents the clash of titans – it is represented by BJP state unit president Rakesh Singh and Congress’ MP Vivek Tankha. Add to this that health minister Sharad Jain represents Jabalpur (North) in the assembly and you get a highprofile big stakes contest.

Well-known for its British style bungalows, Jabalpur has eight assembly constituencies – four urban and four largely rural. Of these Congress holds only Patan and Jabalpur West. The rest – Bargi, Jabalpur East, Jabalpur Cantt, Jabalpur North, Panaghar and Sehora – have been won by the BJP for at least two terms.


This time, however, BJP rebels and anti-incumbency have queered the pitch for the ruling party. The biggest problem has been the outbreak of dengue and chikungunya. People claim there have been at least 1,000 deaths. However, the official figure pegs it at one-fifth of this number.

People openly term healthcare facilities ‘poor’. “Do you know people have to go to Nagpur? The outbreak is so severe that a train goes every day to Nagpur and it is full of dengue and chikungunya patients,” said Ramo.

The presence of a BJP rebel in Jain’s segment has made it a tough fight for the minister, who is pitted against Vinay Saxena of the Congress.

Tribal-dominated Sehora is another seat where the Congress appears to be strong. Congress’ Khiladi Singh is challenging the sitting MLA Nandhani Maravi.

In Bargi, three-term MLA Pratibha Singh appeared to be neck and neck with Congress’ Sanjay Yadav. Making the contest interesting is her daughter-in-law who has been fielded by the Samajwadi Party.