Gwalior-Chambal may throw up a challenge for BJP

To reach Bhopal, parties have to keep an eye on the Gwalior and Chambal regions, among crucial deciding factors.

- TIKAM SHARMA

The Gwalior and Chambal regions have a big role to play in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. With the announcement of poll date by the Election Commission on 17 November, all parties have announced the names of their candidates and started their campaign to rule the Bhopal Assembly. To reach Bhopal, parties have to keep an eye on the Gwalior and Chambal regions, which can prove to be the deciding factors of the election. This region may have a big role in deciding who will win the Madhya Pradesh elections.

Alone, these two regions consist of 34 seats, of which Gwalior has 21 and the remaining 13 are covered by the Chambal region. During the last election, these regions proved to be the deciding factor, as Congress won the majority of the seats.

Out of 34, Congress won 26 seats, and the BJP won 7 seats. Then came the defection of 22 MLAs from the Congress led by Jyotiraditya Scindia, and the subsequent bypolls helped the BJP climb to 16 seats in the region.