Before Priyanka’s rally in Jabalpur, Chief Minister Shivraj will start Ladli Bahna Yojana

New Delhi: Jabalpur, the cultural capital of Madhya Pradesh and the gateway to the tribal-dominated Mahakaushal area, is becoming an important battleground for the upcoming assembly elections. Both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress are launching their election campaigns with tall promises of freebies from the city. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will today release the first installment of Rs 1000 each to women under the “Laadli Behna Yojana” scheme in the city, aimed at wooing the 38 per cent women voters and his nearly two-decade rule.

The scheme is also being seen as an important strategy by the central leadership of the BJP to change the mindset of the people. According to government data, around 1.25 crore women in the age group of 23 to 60 years will receive their first monthly financial benefit under the scheme.

I say this with utmost certainty…
Today is the most important and joyful day of my life. pic.twitter.com/Bg3bu8j7nl– Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) June 10, 2023

Sources say the state BJP leadership will later conduct an internal survey to assess the impact of the scheme on the anti-incumbency wave. On June 12, Congress National General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will start the party’s election campaign from Jabalpur with a road show and public meeting after Narmada Pujan on the river bank.

Entrance gate of tribal dominated Mahakaushal area

The political importance of Jabalpur lies in its being the gateway to the Mahakaushal region, which is dominated by the Gond and Baiga tribes. The region has 38 assembly seats, including seven in Chhindwara district, which is the stronghold of state Congress chief Kamal Nath. In the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress won 24 seats in Mahakaushal, while 13 went to the BJP and one seat to a Congress rebel. In Chhindwara, all seven seats were won by Kamal Nath’s party in 2018, while in Jabalpur district (where the BJP won six out of eight seats in 2013), both parties won four seats each in 2018.

Even in the mayoral election of July 2022, the BJP suffered setbacks in the Mahakaushal region. The Congress won Jabalpur (after 18 years) and Chhindwara, while a BJP rebel defeated its official candidate in Katni. The Congress hopes that launching its election campaign from Jabalpur with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will help it retain Mahakaushal and increase its chances of coming back. Power. It will also send a positive signal to Chhattisgarh, another poll-bound state, which shares its border with the Mahakaushal region of Madhya Pradesh.

Former Chief Minister and State Congress President Kamal Nath had said during his visit to Jabalpur a few days ago, “We are going to start the election campaign from Jabalpur on June 12. I am confident that the people of Madhya Pradesh will take the state towards development. Secure the future of the new generation. I am sure people will support Congress in the upcoming assembly elections.

Jabalpur is also important for the BJP as the in-laws of the party’s national president JP Nadda and state party chief VD Sharma live here. The city is also considered to be Sharma’s political Karmabhoomi (workplace).