Patel will replace his brother, sitting MLA Jalam Singh Patel, as the BJP aims to use Union Minister’s influence.
NEW DELHI
Narsinghpur is one of the high-profile Assembly constituencies among the 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, as the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has named Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel to contest this seat, replacing his brother, sitting MLA Jalam Singh Patel, who won twice from the same seat.
The move by BJP aims to cash in on the influential power of Union Min=ister Prahlad Singh Patel, a five-time MP. The central leadership has placed its faith in the Union minister, hoping his mobilisation efforts will also influence the voters in neighbouring seats, as in the 2018 election, the BJP lost 3 out of 4 seats in Narsinghpur district.
Although Narsinghpur has a history of going for the family candidate, at the moment, the BJP’s Patel family is controlling this seat. However, before the Patels, the Mushran family, in Congress along with Ajay Narayan, Mushran’s father, Shyam Sundar Mushran, of Cobgress dominated the electoral scene in Narsinghpur for an extended period. Although the Congress used to have a strong hold on this constituency, with time, it turned into a BJP fortress.
Since the BJP has fielded Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel for the election, it has become crucial for him to win this seat and prove its influencing ability, mobilising power, political supremacy, and legacy. Although he is contesting the assembly election for the first time,
Madhya Pradesh Narshingpur constituency is one of the four assembly constituencies located in the Narshingpur district, which was categorised as the rural seat of the district. It falls under the Narmadapuram (Hoshangabad) Lok Sabha constituency. BJP senior leader Jalam Singh Patel won this seat twice: in 2013 and 2018, defeating Congressman Lakhan Singh Patel. In 2018, Congressman Lakhan Singh Patel got 72,934 votes, which was 42.29 percent of the total votes polled. while his opponent, BJP candidate Jalam Singh Patel, got 87,837 votes. He won the poll by a big margin of 14,903 votes, which was 50.93% of the total votes cast. The total voting percentage in the constituency in 2018 was 81.57%.
In terms of the social split, the constituency has decisive voters, including tribals, Schedules cast, OBC, Brahmin, Jain, Yadav, etc. Muslims are also likely to play a role in the result of the assembly election, which is scheduled to be announced on 3 December.
This time, the BJP has changed the candidate and nominated Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, while the Congress party repeated its candidate and fielded Lakhan Singh Patel, who had lost the 2018 polls.