NEW DELHI: Ujjain, BJP stronghold, faces development issues. Congress hopes to sway voters as BJP seeks votes on development promises.
Ujjain Lok-Sabha constituency, the birthplace of the incumbent chief minister, Dr. Mohan Yadav is considered a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has periodically voted for Congress too, since Independence, but not in the last two Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP has won 12 out of 17 parliamentary elections in Ujjain. It is one of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies of Madhya Pradesh. A political powerhouse renowned for its significant influence on Indian politics, in 2022, it gained its lost glory when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ambitious Mahakaal Corridor project.
The constituency covers the entire Ujjain district and part of Ratlam district. Ujjain comprises eight assembly segments, including Ujjain North, Ujjain South, Alote, Badnagar, Tarana, Mahaidpur, Ghatiya, and Nagada-Khachrod. In the 2019 election, BJP’s Anil Firojiya won the election with a victory margin of 3,65,637 votes, and Congress’ Babu Lal Malviya got 426,026 votes. All eight assembly segments voted for the BJP in the 2019 election.
However, in the 2023 assembly election, Congress managed to win two out of eight assembly seats.
But voters are miffed with the BJP here as they say there has been no development here.
Amidst the ever-increasing number of tourists, the existing arrangements are now appearing dwarfed by the voters. Many voters have raised issues like unemployment, education, transportation, infrastructure, traffic congestion, etc. Due to this, the Congress is hoping to win this time. This time Congress has fielded Mahesh Parmar against sitting MP and BJP candidate Anil Firojiya.
Talking about the issues, localities said they want better infrastructure to accompany the increased number of tourists. They also want a systematic operation of traffic.
Abhishek Sharma, a local said that the darshan system in Mahakaleshwar temple should be easy and completely free and it is not right to take money from devotees in the name of quick darshan.
Another voter, Karan Jain told The Sunday Guardian that the government should improve the air quality of the Mahakal area by planting trees and plants on a large scale and start operating city buses to keep the main roads that approach the temple free from traffic jams, as they promised in their previous term.
A local Congress leader said that the “level of education in Ujjain is very bad”. Even for coaching, our youth have to go out of state. The condition of the health system is also the same. There are small hospitals all over Ujjain, but doctors are not there, and schools are without teachers.
A BJP representative countered that the government has carried out several development projects in the constituency and has periodically taken appropriate action to clean the Shipra River. He also stated that the traffic problem is being addressed and will be resolved soon.
Anil Firojiya told The Sunday Guardian, “This election we are seeking votes only on the developments that are being carried out by the double-engine BJP government.” He further slammed Congress candidate Mahesh Parmar and said he has not done any development in his assembly seat, Tarana, and now he is talking about the development. The people of Ujjain are very brave, and they won’t fall into the trap of Congress. And again, we’ll win Ujjain along with other constituencies of the state.”