MP assembly polls: Congress chief Kamal Nath files nomination from Chhindwara

The 76-year-old Congress leader filed the nomination in the afternoon after offering prayers at a Ram temple in Chhindwara

Chhindwara: Madhya Pradesh Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath on Thursday filed his nomination as the grand old party’s candidate from Chhindwara seat – his pocket borough – for the next month’s assembly elections.

The 76-year-old leader filed the nomination in the afternoon after offering prayers at a Ram temple here.

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The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Bunty Sahu against Nath. The Congress leader had defeated Sahu by a margin of more than 25,000 in the by-election to the Chhindwara assembly constituency in 2019.

Talking to reporters after filing the nomination papers, Nath who is leading the party in the centrally-located state, told reporters that the people of Madhya Pradesh and Chhindwara will shower their blessing on the Congress.

Nath had represented the Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency for eight times. After becoming the chief minister in 2018, he had contested the assembly by-election after Congress MLA Deepak Saxena resigned from Chhindwara to make way for Nath to fight the polls.

The government led by Kamal Nath, which was formed in December 2018, lasted only 15 months as it collapsed in March 2020 after several MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress and joined the BJP. The development paved the way for the saffron party’s return to power in the state with Shivraj Singh Chouhan becoming the chief minister once again.

Elections to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly will be held on November 17, and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 3.