With another NewsX Exclusive on, ‘The Road Stop’ we take a closer look at the Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency in Panna in Madhya Pradesh, with the BJP candidate and Member of parliament Vishnu Dutt Sharma.
The constituency has a populationof 2.5 million of which 18.7 % of the population lives in urban areas while 81.3% of the district is rural. The SC’s and the ST’s make up 18.5% and 15% of the population respectively. In terms of religious composition 92.23% are Hindus and 6.47% are muslims. In 2019 Lok Sabha polls 1.8 million people qualified for voting of which 68.12% turned out to vote.
In 2019 Vishnu Dutt Sharma won the election by a margin of four lakh and ninety-two thousand votes. and secured 64.49% of the votes. The Khajuraho constituency is a BJP bastion and the party has been winning the seats since 1989.
We asked VD Sharma about his perception of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections to which he opened up and said, “The nation’s resolve is to bring PM Narendra Modi even for the 3rd term and in Bundelkhand that resolve has been strenthened even further”. He further added. “Today the election is being contested by the people”.
Further in the conversation discussion steered towards the abscence of proper railway arrangements and how the people of Bundelkhand have been struggling through it, to which Mr VD Sharma replied, ” Khajurao-Singrauli railway line which will go via Panna has been given an added boost and I am very greatful to Union Minister for railways, Ashwini Vaishnav, who has given this gift to Khajurao which will give fresh impetus to tourism and the whole region has benefitted from this development”.
He further added, “A world-class railways station for Khajuraho, at a cost of nearly 250-330 crores, out of a few selected railways stations in India is being made”.
Moving along with the conversation it was further discussed about mining which is a major sector in the region, Mr VD Sharma further elaborated, “NMDC was Panna’s identity, and Panna is the source of Asia’s best diamonds, and it was a challeneg for the people’s representative to get the mines of NMDC reopened. It is with great pleasure that I am telling you that with the efforts of the Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, NMDC has resumed its mining operations in Panna”.
Khajuraho is one of the seven wonders of India and is situated 400 kms from Bhopal the capital of Madhya Pradesh. Khajuraho is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India and hosts India’s largest group of Medieval Hindu and Jain Temples famous for their sculptures. The Khajuraho Temple complex has been listed under UNESCO’s world heritage sites since 1986.
As we move ahead with the elections this conversation has helped us in getting a deeper look into the issues of Khajuraho. The BJP candidate Vishnu Dutt Sharma opened up about his expectations about the elections and expressed his views on the most pressing issues of the constituency and elaborated on the roadmap for develoment further.
Watch the full video on our NewsX YouTube channel.
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