Main points
- Mandsaur seat is stronghold of BJP and is big challenge for Congress
- In 16 general elections, Congress lost 11 times
- Jansangh’s Laxminarayan Pandey won 11 times
Mahendra Jain
Mandsaur
The Congress registered thumping win in the first two Lok Sabha elections of the country in Mandsaur but in later polls its performance deteriorated.This can be gauged from the fact in the 16 general elections held so far Congress faced defeat in 11 of them. Senior leader Laxminarayan Pandey played key role in increasing BJP’s influence in Mandsaur. He contested 10 times and won eight of the times.
Before the constitution of Madhya Pradesh, Congress candidate Kailashnath Katju had registered victory in first Lok Sabha elections held in 1952. After Madhya Pradesh came in existence the winning spree of Congress continued and Manak Agrawal reached the parliament.
But the story after this is interesting. In 1962 assembly polls, chief minister Kailashnath Katju was pitted against Jansangh’s young Laxminarayan Pandey and Katju had to face defeat. Katju lost and Pandey overnight became the new star of the politics. After this the Jansangh reigned supreme in Mandsaur for two decades.
In 1962 elections, Umashankar Trivedi won on Jansangh ticket. In 1967, Swatantra Singh Kothari defeated Congress candidate.In 1971, Pandey contested his first Lok Sabha election and won. He was again fielded in 1977. At that time Jansangh had finished and the Janata Party had come into existence.
Pandey could not score hattrick of wins
In 1980, he was again in the field to hit a hattrick of victories. He contested from BJP ticket. But Bhanwarlal Nahta of Congress did not let him achieve this milestone. Nahta won and forced Pandey to remain away from election politics for nearly a decade because in 1984-85 election once again Congress emerged victorious.
In elections held after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, Balkavi Bairagi won. But in 1989 election, Pandey made the comeback. His journey of victory stopped only in 2009. He won in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.
LS election of 2009 was Pandey’s last election
The Lok Sabha election of 2009 was his last election. Meenakshi Natrajan of Congress defeated him. This election heralded the end of his political career.In 2014 election, Meenakshi lost by over 3.5 lakh votes and BJP’s Sudhir Gupta made it to the parliament.
1962 LS polls changed picture of Mandsaur seat
In 1962, CM Kailashnath Katju was trying his luck for the second time from Mandsaur. Jandangh’s young leader Laxminarayan Pandey was before him. Pandey created history by defeating Katju. A new star rose in politics and Mandsaur became stronghold first of Jansangh and then RSS.