Nakul Nath banks on father's legacy in battle for Chhindwara
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath's son Nakul couldn't have expected more odds against him than in this Lok Sabha election, where he is fighting to retain the Chhindwara seat that he had inherited from his father in 2019. The BJP is leaving no stone unturned to corner the lone winner from the Congress camp in the state in the previous general election and his lackadaisical performance in the past five years has aggravated the challenge.
Though the BJP has fielded a seemingly lightweight candidate, Vivek Bunty Sahu, who had lost to Kamal Nath in the last two assembly polls, the party is banking on the support of Congress defectors, including one sitting MLA and a former MLA, the Ayodhya Ram temple issue and its own sweep in the 2023 state polls.
Nakul Nath is the richest candidate in the first phase of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, with assets worth Rs 716 crore, has largely been an absentee MP, according to locals. His father remains his biggest strength as he did not make much of an impact inside or outside Parliament in the past five years. Locals said the exodus to the BJP from the Congress in Chhindwara was as much on account of the rising graph of the saffron party and the Ram temple issue as it was due to Kamal Nath promoting his son.
Deepak Saxena, the Congress MLA from Chhindwara assembly seat, had vacated his post to let Kamal Nath contest after the party won the 2018 assembly polls and he became chief minister. Kamal Nath had contested and won this assembly constituency again in 2023, leaving no
