By Sundeep Pouranik

Bhopal, Mar 31 (IANS): With the upcoming bypolls for the Damoh Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, the political temperatures are slowly rising. Both the BJP and the Congress are leaving no stone unturned to win the bypolls and have also stepped up their efforts to poach candidates to dent each other's political fortunes.

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government in the state is completely in command as the results of the bypolls on the Damoh Assembly constituency would not create much of an impact on it. But politically this bypoll holds a lot of significance.

Rahul Lodhi, who recently left the Congress and joined the BJP has been nominated by the saffron party in the upcoming bypolls. Former minister Jayant Malaiya, known as a long-time BJP leader and his family are reportedly not happy with this decision, as Lodhi had defeated Malaiya in the last Assembly elections.

After the success in the previous Assembly elections in Damoh and with Lodhi joining the BJP, the Congress is hoping that in the upcoming by-elections, too, they would get the same support of the people. That is why the party has nominated Ajay Tandon as its candidate. Apart from this, the Congress is hoping to benefit from the discord within the BJP due to Jayant Malaiya not being chosen a candidate this time.

Voting for the by-elections will be held on April 17, so preparations have been stepped up by both the BJP and the Congress. Chief Minister Chouhan and BJP State unit President Vishnu Datt Sharma have visited Damoh to campaign for the BJP.

Prior to the announcement of the poll date, the two leaders had jointly visited Damoh and made big promises. At the time of filing their nominations, both the prominent leaders along with the Damoh MP and Union Minister Prahlad Patel were also present.

On the other hand, the Congress has been making all efforts to strengthen itself. Former Chief Minister Kamal Nath has also visited Damoh where he directly attacked the BJP government in the state. At the same time, he also called upon party workers to fight the elections with full vigour, but the Congress received a major setback here because Satish Nayak, the brother of former minister Mukesh Nayak recently joined the BJP.

Looking at the history of the Damoh Assembly constituency, one thing is clear that there has always been a neck-and-neck contest between the BJP and the Congress. In the 15 elections held till now, Jayant Malaiya of the BJP has won six times, on the other hand, the Congress candidate has won seven times and an Independent candidate has won twice.

Political analysts believe that the by-elections here is not going to be one-sided, as both parties are pushing hard for victory. Lodhi has defected to the BJP due to which there is disappointment among the people, while Congress candidate Ajay Tandon had also contested the Assembly elections but ended up on the losing side. Overall, the people are in a dilemma which is why predicting the results is difficult.

This by-election is also important politically because there are panchayat and urban body polls in the state which would be held soon. The result of this bypoll can become a critical issue in the upcoming elections. This is why both parties are taking it very seriously.