With no big names in fray, Vidisha loses sheen

After two-time Vidisha MP Sushma Swaraj announced that she will not contest the Lok Sabha elections this year, the high-profile constituency, considered a BJP bastion, appears to have lost its sheen.

The BJP has fielded debutante Ramakant Bhargav from the seat which saw the likes of former prime minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee in the running in the early 1990s.

Bhargav is pitted against Shailendra Patel of the Congress.

With no big names in the fray, the electioneering in Vidisha has been low-key and it has failed to grab the media's attention, Bhopal-based political commentator Girija Shankar said.

"Vidisha Lok Sabha seat has been taken for granted since it became the traditional seat of a political party. So, whenever the party wanted to ensure the victory of any candidate, it fielded him or her from this seat. Now, when no VIP candidate is here, the election is a low-key affair," he said, without naming any party.

However, the question that is looming large is whether the BJP will be able to retain the seat.

In Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls last year, the saffron party lost considerable vote share in Vidisha.

Swaraj had won from this seat with a margin of 4.10 lakh votes in 2014 general election. However, in the November 2018 assembly polls, its margin for eight Vidhan Sabha segments under this constituency was reduced to 1.03 lakh.

The Congress won two of the eight assembly segments in the parliamentary constituency -- Vidisha and Sanchi.

However, the BJP, which was ousted from Madhya Pradesh after 15 years by the Congress, remains confident that it will retain the seat.

"Whosoever may be the party's candidate, the people of Vidisha appreciate our ideology and will vote for the party," state BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said.

"The issues and candidates were different during the assembly polls. But, this time the people want Narendra Modi to become the country's prime minister again. So, the BJP is going to maintain the victory margin of 2014 Lok Sabha polls," he added.

Bolstered by the assembly poll results, the Congress is also confident of turning the tables this time.

"There is strong anti-incumbency against Swaraj, who forgot this seat after winning and hardly visited the constituency. Irked over Swaraj's long absence, the people in Vidisha had also put up posters declaring her missing. She did nothing for this area in ten years," state Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said.

The Congress last won from Vidisha in 1984, following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

The party's candidate, Pratap Bhanu Sharma, had also won the seat in 1980 during what was dubbed an 'Indira wave'.

Polling in Vidisha, along with seven other Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, will be held on May 12.