Vindhya: MP's 'rainbow' region that turned saffron in 2018; Congress eyes better show, AAP looks to open account
Vindhya region was nearly swept by the BJP in the 2018 assembly elections, but it has a history of giving space to parties with different ideological hues — from Communists to the BSP — making the region politically evolved where the Congress will look to improve tally in the upcoming polls and new entrant AAP try to notch up its first win in the state.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is eyeing to enter in the state assembly, possibly through the Vindhya region, which elected the first Lok Sabha member for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) from Madhya Pradesh in 1991 and also gave representation to Communists in electoral politics.
The region bordering Uttar Pradesh has 30 assembly seats and is spread across nine eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh — Rewa, Shahdol, Satna, Sidhi, Singrauli, Anuppur, Umaria, Maihar and Mauganj (the last two were created recently).
The Congress failed to perform well in the 2018 assembly elections and managed to win only six seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party's tally stood at an impressive 24.
The AAP has high hopes from the region as it made an impact in the MP politics through Vindhya, winning the mayoral seat of Singrauli in 2022. Now, Singrauli mayor Rani Agrawal, who is also president of the AAP's state unit, is in the fray from the Singrauli assembly seat.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit is a new entrant to the region, which has a record of electing a BSP parliamentarian three times.
The region has elected BSP Lok Sabha MPs three times — Bheem Singh Patel in 1991, Budhasen Patel in 1996 and Deoraj Singh Patel in 2009 — all from the Rewa constituency.
