Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 19 : Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and his son, Nakul Nath cast their votes in Chhindwara on Friday.
They showed their inked fingers after casting the vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections.
Congress leader Nakul Nath is contesting from the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat against BJP candidate Bunty Sahu, who lost to Kamal Nath in the last two assembly polls.
Voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 began at 7:00 am on Friday across 102 parliamentary constituencies spread over 21 states and Union Territories. Voting will end at 6 pm.

The constituencies in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections include Chhindwara, Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla and Balaghat.

Before casting his vote, Nakul Nath, along with his family, offered prayers at Hanuman temple near the polling booth in Shikarpur, Chhindwara.
After offering prayers, Nakul Nath said, "People of Chhindwara will stand with the truth. We have worked for the people of Chhindwara for 44 years. I have full confidence that the people will bless us."
Chhindwara is one of the key seats in the state and Congress held the seat for over 70 years, barring a short period of time between 1997 and 1998. Kamal Nath or his family members have been ruling the seat for the last 44 years since 1980. But in 1997, veteran BJP leader and former CM Sunderlal Patwa defeated Nath by election. However, Kamal Nath won the Chhindwara seat again in 1998.
Chhindwara is considered a stronghold of Kamal Nath and it was the only seat that the Congress party managed to win in the previous 2019 general elections in the state.
The BJP already showed in the recently conducted assembly polls that it has an upper advantage in the Hindi heartland states. In the 2019 elections, Congress leader Nakul Nath got a total of 47.1 per cent of votes, whereas the defeated BJP candidate touched 44.1 per cent.
Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh will be conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling will be held on April 19, followed by April 26, May 7 and May 13. The votes will be counted on June 4.
Madhya Pradesh has a total of 29 Lok Sabha constituencies, making it the sixth-largest state in terms of parliamentary representation. Out of these, 10 seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates, while the remaining 19 are unreserved.
The counting of votes will be held on June 4.