- Congress waiting for victory for three decades
- Past of Vidisha parliamentary constituency
Santosh Sharma, Vidisha
BJP has been registering victory continuously in Vidisha parliamentary constituency for more than three decades, due to which Congress has been yearning for victory in this area for a long time. There is a five-two contest between the candidates of both the parties. Former CM Shivraj has been elected MP from here five times and Pratap Bhanu Sharma twice. Congress had last won this area in the year 1984. From then till now, no Congress candidate could register victory here and the BJP flag kept flying.
This time in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP has declared former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan as its candidate from Vidisha parliamentary constituency. At the same time, Congress has made former MP Pratap Bhanu Sharma its candidate. Both the leaders are tall leaders of their respective parties. Former MP Pratap Bhanu Sharma has won the parliamentary elections twice in the past from Vidisha parliamentary constituency, while former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has also hoisted his flag by winning five consecutive elections from Vidisha parliamentary constituency.
In the elections of 1980, Pratap Bhanu Sharma contested for the first time as a Congress candidate from Vidisha parliamentary constituency and faced the Janata Party candidate Raghav Ji Bhai. Pratap Bhanu Sharma defeated Raghavji Bhai in this election. After this, in the elections of 1984, Congress candidate Pratap Bhanu Sharma again faced BJP candidate Raghav Ji Bhai. Raghav ji had to face defeat in this election also, but in the election of 1989, when there was a contest between Raghav ji Bhai and Pratap Bhanu Sharma for the third consecutive time, BJP candidate Raghav ji Bhai emerged victorious and Sharma had to face defeat.
In the 1991 elections, BJP fielded its national leader, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who faced Congress candidate Pratap Bhanu Sharma. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was victorious in this election. Actually, Vajpayee was elected from Vidisha as well as Lucknow parliamentary constituency, due to which Vajpayee resigned from Vidisha parliamentary constituency. To fill the vacant seat, a by-election was held on Vidisha parliamentary seat after 6 months in November 1991 in which Budhni MLA Shivraj Singh Chauhan contested for the first time as a BJP candidate from Vidisha parliamentary constituency and faced Congress candidate Pratap Bhanu Sharma. Shivraj Singh Chauhan was victorious in this election. After this election, Shivraj Singh won four more elections and by winning five consecutive elections, he created history on Vidisha parliamentary seat and he dominated this area. Shivraj Singh Chauhan defeated Congress candidate Hriday Mohan Jain in the 1996 elections. At the same time, in the 1998 elections, Chouhan defeated Ashutosh Dayal Sharma of Congress. After this, in the 1999 elections, Shivraj Singh defeated Congress candidate Jaswant Singh Raghuvanshi. In the 2004 elections, Chouhan defeated Congress candidate Narbada Prasad Sharma. In this way, Chouhan has won the elections from Vidisha parliamentary constituency five consecutive times in the past. In December 2005, when Vidisha MP Shivraj Singh Chauhan became the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, he resigned from the Vidisha parliamentary seat, as a result of which a second by-election was held in this area in which BJP candidate Rampal Singh Rajput defeated Congress candidate Rajshree Singh.
Face to face again after 33 years – In the year 1991, the situation of by-election on Vidisha parliamentary seat was created due to Atal ji vacating the seat. Then there was a contest between Shivraj Singh Chauhan from BJP and Pratap Bhanu Sharma from Congress. Shivraj Singh Chauhan was victorious in this election. After this, now after 33 years, both these powerful leaders are once again face to face in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Who wins in the elections will become clear only after the results are declared.
Many challenges before Congress
BJP has fielded Shivraj Singh Chauhan, five-time former MP from Vidisha and Chief Minister of the state for 18 years, as its candidate from Vidisha parliamentary constituency. At the same time, the Congress Party is also facing the problem of disintegration of its organization just before the elections. Some time ago, Vidisha Congress District President Rakesh Katare left Congress and joined BJP, hence Congress became without a District President due to which the organizational activities of Congress got affected. However, now Mohit Raghuvanshi has been appointed as the new president. At the same time, recently former Congress MLA from Vidisha Shashank Bhargava also started suppressing BJP. Bhargava did not stop here, recently on March 31, when Shivraj Singh Chouhan came to Vidisha, he got 738 Congress workers membership of BJP. During this time senior leader Suresh Pachauri was also present which is a matter of concern for the Congress organization. Due to such circumstances, Congress is facing many challenges in this election. Now it remains to be seen what initiative Congress takes to stop the workers moving away from the party.
