Many villages without power, families waiting for water, settlements inaccessible by road and dilapidated school buildings – life is tough for thousands of voters in many parts of the Bamori constituency in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district.

But Bamori MLA Mahendra Singh Sisodia, who is also the panchayat and rural development minister, had just four months ago claimed that an amount of Rs 22,000 crore had been spent on development works in his constituency, including on power, roads and schools. 

Sisodia, an aide of former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, had joined the BJP in 2020 and has won three elections from Bamori, including the bypoll in 2020 which he secured a victory with a margin of over 50,000 votes. But the MLA, who is known as “Sanju bhaiyya” in the area, faces an uphill battle this time with resentment among tribals, who have a decisive vote in the assembly segment.

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