In U-Turn After Joining BJP, Chhindwara Mayor Backs Congress's Nakul Nath

On the day of polling in the high-profile Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh on Friday, the city's mayor Vikram Ahake, who recently joined the BJP, urged people to vote for Congress' Nakul Nath.

“Soon after joining a political party, I was feeling suffocated. I felt that I was not doing the right thing with a person who has developed Chhindwara,” Mr Ahake said in a video message shared on social media.

Nakul Nath always devoted himself to the constituency's betterment, be it the education sector, providing treatment to people, or carrying out development works, said Mr Ahake.

“In the future, I will get a lot of opportunities to do politics. I don't know what will happen to me, but if I don't stand with my leader Kamal Nath and Nakul Nath today… as they have done a lot for me… I appeal to the voters to ensure the victory of Nakul Nath (and his father Kamal Nath) with a huge margin,” Mr Ahake said in the video message.

The BJP has fielded Vivek Bunty Sahu against Nakul Nath and many senior party leaders visited the constituency to campaign for him.

Chhindwara is among the six Lok Sabha seats where polling is underway in the first phase of the parliamentary elections.

The Chhindwara mayor joined the BJP on April 1 in the presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and the state party president Vishnu Dutt Sharma in the state capital.

Of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP, Chhindwara is the only constituency that the BJP had lost in 2019.

Former MP chief minster Kamal Nath had won from this seat nine times.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)