Chorus grows within Cong to field Nath from Bhopal
Pressure mounts on Congress veteran and former chief minister Kamal Nath to join the fray in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, with an influential section of the party lobbying with the high command to field him from the Bhopal LS seat, considered the impregnable fort of the BJP.
A senior Congress functionary disclosed to this newspaper on Thursday that several senior leaders of the party have started mounting pressure on their Central leadership to field Mr Nath from the Bhopal seat to “create a favourable atmosphere” for the party in the polls.
“The morale of Congress cadres, who are yet to recover from the shock over the debacle of the party in the recent Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, will get a boost if a veteran leader like Mr Nath chose to take the plunge in the upcoming LS polls,” a section of Congress leaders believe.
Congress leaders who want Mr Nath to contest in the coming LS polls have placed the argument before the high command while seeking his nomination for the Bhopal seat, the Congress leader said requesting not to be quoted. Mr Nath has, however, given clear indications that he is not willing to contest in the upcoming LS polls.
“Nakul (Mr Nath’s son) is going to seek re-election from the Chhindwara LS seat in MP,” he said.
Earlier, the state Congress leadership has gone on public saying that senior leaders should join the fray to give a good fight to the BJP.
“Former CM Digvijay Singh was fielded in the Bhopal seat considered his pocket borough, in the last LS polls. Hence, Mr Nath should be asked to seek election from Bhopal this time,” the Congress leader argued, echoing sentiments of his colleagues.