MP Bypolls: Kamal Nath pits Sachin Pilot against Jyotiraditya Scindia in Gwalior region

Ahead of Madhya Pradesh bypolls, former MP CM Kamal Nath annonced that Congress leader Sachin Pilot will be one of the star campaigners for a road show in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior region against BJP's Jyotiraditiya Scindia. This comes soon after Pilot revolted against Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot. Confirming the Congress leader's inclusion, Congress state media vice-president Bhipendra Gupta said, "Yes, Sachin Pilot has been called and, like other star campaigners, he would be campaigning for the party."

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Pilot roped-in at the behest of Kamal Nath

Gupta said Pilot will lead the campaign in Gwalior at the behest of Kamal Nath. Earlier, Pilot's revolt against Ashok Gehlot indicated that he may be joining BJP. But, Congress was finally able to resolve the conflicts and Sachin Pilot remained in the party. 

Jyotiraditya Scindia joins BJP 

The upcoming bypolls will be held in 28 assembly segments in Madhya Pradesh out of which 16 lie in the Gwalior-Chambal region, a stronghold of Scindia. The majority of these 16 assembly seats are very close to Rajasthan border and members of Pilot's Gujjar community reside in the region. After Scindia left Congress to join BJP, 22 of the total 28 seats were vacated which were occupied by Scindia's loyalists.

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This move bought down Kamal Nath's government in November 2019. Three more seats were vacated by the Congress MLAs who switched to BJP after Shivraj Singh Chouhan took over as Chief Minister. The remaining three seats fell vacant after the deaths of sitting MLAs, two belonging from Congress and one from BJP. 

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