MP CM-designate Kamal Nath to contest Assembly polls from Chhindwara seat

Kamal Nath will take oath as Madhya Pradesh CM on December 17

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister-designate Kamal Nath on Saturday said he would contest Assembly polls from his home turf Chhindwara but was yet to zero in on any particular seat from the district.

According to rules, Nath, a Lok Sabha MP from Chhindwara, will have to get elected to the MP Assembly within six months of assuming any ministerial office.

The district comprises seven Assembly seats of which four are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, making Nath ineligible to contest from them.

While Chhindwara, Saunsar and Chourai are for general candidates-- from where Nath can contest-- Amarwara (ST), Parasia (SC), Junnardeo (SC) and Pandhurna (ST), are the reserved seats.

"Of the seven seats in Chhindwara district, only three are unreserved. I had told them (party) that I would contest from the seat from where the Congress won with the largest margin (in the 2018 polls)," Nath told PTI Saturday.

Incidentally, the seat in Chhindwara district from where the Congress won with the widest margin of 20,742 votes is Saunsar, which is also where Nath's home is located and from where he is listed as a voter.

The nine-time Lok Sabha member from Chhindwara was Thursday night elected as the leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP).

Governor Anandiben Patel invited Nath (72) to form the new government in the state, after he met her at the Raj Bhavan here Friday to stake claim to form the government.

He will take oath as MP CM on December 17.