In BJP bastion, a Congress challenge

BHOPAL: One of the most keenly watched polls in the country, Bhopal saw a voter turnout of 65.69% by 10pm, as per the Voter Turnout app of the Election Commission of India, amid deployment of heavy police and para-military force. In 2014, the turnout was 57.7%. With the Bharatiya Janata Party fielding Pragya Thakur against Congress veteran leader and former chief minister of the state Digvijaya Singh, it was a prestige battle for both parties.

Clashes were reported from a few booths. An argument broke out between Bhopal mayor and BJP leader Alok Sharma and minister for minority affairs Arif Aqueel’s brother which caused conflict between party workers. Sharma alleged that Congress workers at the DIG Bungalow polling booth, led by Aqueel’s brother, did not allow BJP workers to maintain impartiality while polling.

The BJP, which won 27 of the 29 seats in the state in the last Lok Sabha election, and was in power in the state since 2003, lost to the Congress in the 2018 state elections.

Thakur, an accused under the terror law for the 2008 Malegaon serial blasts, was the BJP’S choice to fight against Singh, to prove the point that there is no such thing as ‘Hindu terror’.

She courted much controversy during her campaign, when she said that former Anti

Terror Squad Mumbai chief, Hemant Karkare (who investigated the Malegoan blasts) died during the 26/11 attacks in the city, due to her “curse”. She later apologized for her remarks against the national hero. She also faced a 72-hour ban by the EC for her statements, which the opposition alleged she broke.

If Hindutva was Thakur’s pitch, Singh, on his part focused on development, although he too appealed to the religious-minded with visits to temples and public prayers. Bahujan Samaj Party’s Madho Singh Ahirwar was also one of the candidates in the fray.

Bhopal is one of eight seats that polled on Sunday, including the Gwalior-chambal region that comprises four constituencies; the remaining eight seats will vote on May 19, which is the last phase of polling of the ongoing general elections. The BJP has been winning this seat in the general elections since 1989.