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Chhindwara, where elections are an annual affair

Elections are an annual exercise in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara constituency.

Till recently a Congress citadel, it went to the polls with the rest of the country in 1996, broke tradition by electing a non-Congress candidate in the February 1997 by-election, and is now preparing for a needle contest between two stalwarts: former Union minister Kamal Nath and former MP chief minister Sundar Lal Patwa.

The contest promises to be all the more interesting since Congressman Kamal Nath has a score to settle with Patwa -- the BJP candidate had defeated him by a wide margin in the 1997 by-election.

The by-election came about following Kamal Nath's wife Alka's resignation. Alka had contested the 1996 election after the Congress denied a nomination to her husband citing his alleged involvement in the hawala scam. When Kamal Nath was discharged in the case, his wife resigned to facilitate her husband's return to Parliament.

However, Chhindwara -- which was the only seat in north India to return a Congress nominee during the Janata Party wave in 1977 -- surprised Kamal Nath by electing a non-Congressman for the first time.

While Alka Nath defeated former minister Choudhary Chandra Bhan Singh with a margin of more than 21,000 votes, Kamal Nath lost by about 37,000 votes.

Kamal Nath represented the constituency from 1980 till 1996.

Chhindwara neighbours Betul district where 19 farmers were killed in police firing at Multai last month. The incident is likely to become an important election issue.

UNI

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