Significantly, this region has been a BJP fortress. It has been represented in the assembly through several terms by the party’s Gouri Shankar Shejwar, till recently the leader of Opposition. Besides, it’s part of the Vidisha parliamentary constituency, which has been returning the BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chauhan for several years. Atal Behari Vajpayee too had won from Vidisha, though he vacated the seat later.
In fact, the Sanchi civic body has been under the BJP’s control for many years. This time, however, Congress’ Mahendra Singh Suryavanshi has been elected chairperson of the civic body. He defeated an independent candidate. In a crushing defeat, the BJP candidate was relegated to the third place. Of the 15 corporators, 13 are from the Congress. Interestingly, Ganjbasoda, the town that was the focal point of the Sangh parivar’s latest campaign against cow slaughter, is barely 50 km from Sanchi.
By K.S. Shaini
