Jabalpur: BJP has robust support, Congress strong candidate

The Jabalpur Lok Sabha constituency has been a BJP stronghold for decades, with the foundation laid by its predecessor, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh. While the party is likely to sail through this time as well, having replaced its 4-term MP Rakesh Singh - who is now minister in the Madhya Pradesh government - with a local face, core issues of development and unemployment are main concerns of the electorate.

Rakesh Singh was elected from Jabalpur in 2004, replacing BJP chief JP Nadda's mother-in-law Jayashree Banerjee, and continued till 2023, winning four times in succession. After winning the Jabalpur West assembly seat four months back, BJP has fielded local leader Ashish Dubey as its candidate this time.

Dubey is fighting against Dinesh Yadav, a dyed in the wool Congress leader who has dabbled in municipal politics since 1994 when he became a corporator. Yadav is a state general secretary in MP Congress. Yadav lost the 2009 mayor elections, but this is the first contest for Dubey. The decision to field Dubey came as a surprise to several local BJP leaders. Ajay Vishnoi, BJP MLA from Patan, even expressed his resentment over the decision before falling in line.

That BJP has a robust support base in Jabalpur is obvious from the fact that it won seven of the eight assembly segments under the Lok Sabha constituency in the 2023 polls. Only Jabalpur East (SC), which has a sizable minority population, is with the Congress.

"Jabalpur needs a lot of investment from outside and development of new industries to create employment and income," Ashok Rohani, Jabalpur Cantt MLA, told ET. Rohani won his third consecutive term in 2023.

Though Jabalpur is an old city which serves as headquarters of west central railways and the MP High Court is located here, it has not seen much development in the last two decades when BJP was in power in the state. Locals complain that there are scarce employment opportunities and most of the youth move out in search of work.

"Some famous old movies were shot in some locales of the city. Actor Prem Nath (who played villain in several movies) belonged to the city and his family still has a sprawling house here," said Ashok, a local resident who runs a transport business.

Ex-MP Rakesh Singh faced anti-incumbency and this arguably was the reason why he was made to contest the Jabalpur West assembly seat and moved to state politics. Locals said he was inaccessible and did not bring any new industry or create employment avenues for them in the district. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Thanka, who hails from Jabalpur, had contested against Singh in 2014 and 2019 but lost by huge margins.

Congress candidate Dinesh Yadav has a stronger profile than Ashish Dubey, who has worked primarily in BJP organisation throughout his political career and is a state secretary. However, the BJP cadre is stronger in the district and it is likely to benefit the latter.

BJP has been working on quelling resentment over fielding Dubey. The infighting is not likely to mess his chances of a victory.

Yadav created a buzz during his campaign when he appealed to the voters to "give notes also along with votes" as the bank accounts of the Congress were seized by the income-tax department. It would be interesting to see if the voters of Jabalpur will choose Dinesh Yadav or stick to BJP and its core Hindutva issues, including consecration of the Ram temple, as it has done in the past.