Bhopal: Days after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced to make Pandhurna the 55th district of Madhya Pradesh by carving it out of Chhindwara, the largest district in the state, the locals of Pandhurna and Sausar tehsils, including those from his own party, have started protesting against the proposal.
Chhindwara is known to be the stronghold of state Congress President and fomer Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
The protesting locals, including politicians, government employees and advocates, have handed over a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister to the local administration on this count.
The protests that began on Tuesday continued on Wednesday as people from different walks of life took to the streets in Sausar town, claiming that they were demanding to make Sausar (also part of Chhindwara) the 55th district of Madhya Pradesh, but the announced the name of Pandhurna instead.
Chouhan had made the announcement while addressing a public rally in Chhindwara on August 24, when he also laid the foundation for a ‘Hanuman Lok’ in Pandhurna.
The announcement is seen by many as a political tactic to breach the stronghold of Kamal Nath ahead of the Assembly polls scheduled later this year.
Residents of Sausar town, including politicians like sitting Congress MLA Vijay Revanth Chore and former BJP leader Pradip Thakre, took out a 3 km-long protest march from the Bharat Mata Chowk to Chhatrapati Shivaji Chowk in Sausar on Wednesday.
While some protesters were semi-clad, others wore black bands against the CM’s announcement to create a separate Pandhurna district instead of Sausar district.
Addressing the protesters, Harish Batra, an advocate associated with the BJP, said, “CM Chouhan’s announcement of making Pandhurna a new district has shocked all of us. I was present there and had clapped the announcement thinking that he was going to name Sausar as the new district, but instead he named Pandhurna, which, as per the government decision, will include Sausar and Pandhurna tehsils and the Nandanwadi sub-tehsil.”
He also said that Chouhan made this announcement without consulting the people of Sausar.
Sausar tehsil, which exists since 1886, is the oldest among all the existing tehsils in Chhindwara district, while Pandhurna was carved out of Sausar only after 1965.
“Sausar has been housing the court since 1911, while Pandhurna got its court in 2006. Maximum revenues are generated by Sausar, owing to the presence of minerals (including Manganese). It is also home to a major part of orange cultivation. The population of Sausar too is more than that of Pandhurna. The protest against the CM’s announcement will gain momentum in the coming days,” Chore said.
Residents of both Sausar and Pandhurna tehsils have been demanding separate districts out of Chhindwara for long.
But the people of Pandhurna have been demanding a new district by combining the Pandhurna tehsil of Chhindwara district and Multai tehsil of adjoining Betul district.
Chhindwara, which has 13 tehsils, has seven Assembly segments, all of which were won by the Congress in 2018. The Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat has been won 11 out of 12 times since 1980 by Kamal Nath, his wife or their son.
Currently, the Chhindwara Assembly seat is held by Kamal Nath, while his son Nakul Nath is the lone Congress Lok Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh, representing Chhindwara.
–IANS