For BJP, Jabalpur North seat is a cause for concern

Madhya Pradesh Jabalpur North Constituency is one of the eight Assembly constituencies located in the Jabalpur district. It falls under the Jabalpur L==ok Sabha constituency. BJP senior leader Sarad Jain won this seat thrice in 2003, 2008, and 2013, while Congressman Vinay Saxena won this BJP fortress in 2018 by defeating Sarad Jain.
Over the years, Jabalpur North constituency has faced severe problems of traffic, bad roads, waterlogging, parking, etc. that have been bothering the voters for decades. In 2018, Congressman Vinay Saxena got 50,045 votes, which was 35.23% of the total votes polled. while his opponent, BJP candidate Sarad Jain, got 49,467 votes. He lost the poll just by 578 votes, which was 34.82%of the total votes cast. The total voting percentage in the constituency in 2018 was 66.96%.
In 2013, this seat was won by the BJP’s Sarad Jain by a big margin. In 2013, Sarad Jain got 74654 votes, which were 57.66% of the total votes polled, while his opponent, Naresh Saraf of Congress, got 41093 votes, which was 31.74% of the total votes cast. In 2013, Sarad Jain won the election by a margin of 33563 votes. Sarad Jain, who comes from the Jain community, which has almost 15% of the vote bank, also plays a crucial role in the outcome of the election. BJP’s Sarad Jain won this seat in the 2008 Assembly elections as well, with a margin of 20,026 votes, registering 53.91% of the total votes polled.
This time, the BJP has changed the candidate and nominated a young candidate named Abhilash Pandey in place of the veteran Sarad Jain. Because of this, angry supporters of BJP leader Sharad Jain created a ruckus at the party office in Jabalpur, where they cornered Union Minister Bhupender Yadav. They refused to listen to Yadav, and when a security guard tried to intervene, he was assaulted. The local police have registered an FIR over the incident, and three people have been arrested. Jain’s supporters were expecting him to get a ticket again, but the party named Abhilash Pandey instead.
The local BJP leaders have held a joint meeting and decided that if the candidate is not changed, they won’t work for the party in the election. They have also written a letter to party president J.P. Nadda apprising him of their opposition to Pandey’s candidature and a request to change the ticket and give it to a candidate from the constituency.