Kamal Nath makes debut in state polls, his son in LS elections as MP votes on Monday

The political fate of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, his son Nakul and state BJP president Rakesh Singh will be sealed in EVMs Monday when six Lok Sabha seats go to polls, alongside one assembly constituency, where bypoll will be held.

Besides, Congress legal cell head Vivek Tankha and former leader of opposition in MP assembly Ajay Singh (Congress leader) are also in the fray in the first phase of pollings in the state on April 29.

For the Nath father-son duo, the Monday voting will mark their respective electoral debuts -- while Kamal Nath, who has been elected to Lok Sabha nine times, is contesting his first assembly election, for Nakul, it is his maiden parliamentary poll.

Kamal Nath did not contest the state elections in 2018. But after the Congress emerged as the single largest party, he became the chief minister of the state. As per rules, he needs to get elected to the assembly within six months of assuming office.

The Chhindwara assembly seat was vacated by Nath's close confidant Deepak Saxena.

Nakul is contesting from Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat. His father had won the Chhindwara LS seat in 2014 by a margin of over 1,16,000 votes.

The BJP has fielded former MLA Natthan Shah Kavreti, a tribal face, against Nakul.

For Nath junior, father Kamal Nath and mother Alka has been campaigning and seeking votes saying that they have handed over their son to the people of the constituency.

For the assembly bypoll, the BJP has fielded Vivek Sahu, a young leader of the party's youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), against Kamal Nath.

For senior Congress leader, Ajay Singh, the stakes from Sidhi are high as he lost Lok Sabha polls in 2014 from Satna. He also suffered defeat for the first time in his home turf, Churhat, in the 2018 assembly polls.

Singh lost from Satna by a thin margin of over 8,000 votes against BJP's Ganesh Singh.

This time around, he is contesting from Sidhi against BJP sitting MP Riti Pathak, who had won the 2014 Lok Sabha polls by a margin of over 1.08 lakh votes.

Stakes are also high for Tankha in Jabalpur, where he is pitted against MP and the state BJP president Rakesh Singh.

Rakesh Singh is a third time MP from Jabaplur and has been winning since 2004.

In 2014, the state BJP president defeated Tankha by a margin of over two lakh votes.

Six seats -- Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara -- will go to polls during the first phase on April 29 in Madhya Pradesh. While for the state elections, bypoll will be held in Chhindwara assembly constituency.

From Shahdol (ST) LS seat, the BJP has fielded Himadri Singh, who quit the Congress recently, against Congress' Pramila Singh.

The BJP has fielded former Union minister and sitting MP Faggan Singh Kulaste from Mandla (ST) seat against Congress' Kamal Singh Marawi.

The Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), a tribal outfit, has also fielded Ramgulam Uikey from this (Mandla) seat.

From the Balaghat seat, the BJP has fielded former minister Dhal Singh Bisen by dropping sitting MP Bodh Singh Bhagat, who is contesting as an Independent this time.

The Congress has fielded Madhu Bhagat from Balaghat while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nominated former MP Kankar Munjare.

A former MLA, Kishore Samrite is also in the fray as an independent.