Madhya Pradesh Lok Sabha elections 2024: Key constituencies and candidates in Phase 1

In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, BJP's Vivek Bunty Sahu is pitted against incumbent Congress MP Nakul Nath from Chhindwara.

Madhya Pradesh will vote in four phases in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections - April 19, April 26, May 7 and May 13. The Hindi heartland, currently ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sends 29 members to Lok Sabha.

Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat, Chhindwara are among the six constituencies that will go to polls in the first phase.

BJP swept the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by winning 28 out of 29 seats. The Congress had emerged victorious from Chhindwara with former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath's son Nakul Nath defeating BJP's Nathan Shah. In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Nakul is pitted against BJP's Vivek Bunty Sahu from the same constituency. In 2019, Madhya Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 71.2%.

These are the key Madhya Pradesh constituencies which will vote on April 19:

• Chhindwara: One of the 29 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh which is most keenly watched is Chhindwara. A Congress bastion, Chhindwara was the only seat in the state where the party won in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath emerged victorious from the Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency a record 9 times - 1980, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. His son Nakul fought from the seat in 2019 and defeated BJP's Nathan Shah by over 37,000 votes. For the April 19 polls, BJP has fielded Vivek Bunty Sahu against Congress candidate Nakul Nath. As per Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Nakul is the richest candidate contesting in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections. He has declared assets worth Rs 716 crore in his election affidavit.
• Mandla: Reserved for the candidates belonging to the Schedules Tribes (ST), Mandla is currently represented by BJP's Faggan Singh Kulaste. In 2019, Kulaste defeated Congress candidate Kamal Singh Marawi by a margin of over 97,000 votes. Kulasted has won all Lok Sabha elections from Mandla, barring 2009 when Congress' Basori Singh Masram emerged victorious. In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Congress has fielded Dindori MLA Omkar Singh Markam from Mandla against Kulaste.
• Jabalpur: Another important constituency in Madhya Pradesh is Jabalpur, which was a Congress stronghold since 1957 when the first election took place on the seat. Since 1996, the BJP has been in power in Jabalpur. In 2019, Rakesh Singh defeated Congress candidate Vivek Krishna Tankha with a margin of over 4,54,744 votes. Singh emerged victorious from Jabalpur for four consecutive terms - 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. In the upcoming elections, both the BJP and the Congress have opted to go with new faced. The saffron party has fielded Ashish Dubey against the grand old party's Dinesh Yadav. The Congress candidate has campaigned with a box in his hand seeking one rupee from a voter, besides seeking votes for the party. The constituency recorded a voter turnout of 69.4% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.