Vidisha may have been in the spotlight from time to time due to her links with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, late Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart Sushma Swaraj and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The town has the potential to establish a tourist identity. According to historians, the destination.
Adjacent to world heritage sites such as Sanchi and Bhim Baitika, which are part of the Vidisha Lok Sabha Parishad, the town is home to many monuments of historical importance, including the 10th century Bidya Mandal.
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“It is true that many tourists visit the famous Buddhist site Sanchi. However, Villa Mandal,” historian Govind Deoria told PTI.
He claimed that “the design of the new Parliament building in Central Vista (in New Delhi) is inspired by the Vijaya Mandir.”
Deoria said Vidisha is also surrounded by historical sites such as Udaygiri Caves, home to the world's oldest Ganesha statue, and the Pillar of Heliodorus, one of the few monuments from the BC era.
He said if Shiva Temple in Udaipur and Gyalaspur are well promoted, many jobs will be created in related sectors like tourism, hospitality, tours and travel.
“The design of the new as well as the old Parliament House is inspired by the 11th century Chausat Yogini Mandir in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district,” he claimed.
This polling season, Vidisha is once again in the spotlight with the nomination of Mr. Chouhan, one of the most popular party leaders in the state. This seat was represented by late BJP stalwarts like Vajpayee (in 1991) and Swaraj (in 2009 and 2014).
“It is unfortunate that the architects have not mentioned where they got their inspiration for the design of this structure (Parliament House)…both the previous Parliament House and the new Parliament building built under the Central Vista project. The same thing happened at the Capitol,” Deoria said.
However, Vidisha appears on an old map of India displayed in the new Parliament building, which mentions three important cities from a spiritual and historical perspective, including Varanasi and Maheshwar.
Mr. Deoria said the people of Vidisha have also requested Mr. Chouhan to mention the design of the Bidya Mandal Vijaya Mandir for the new Parliament House.
He blamed the authorities for not promoting Vidisha as a tourist destination.
“Even Sanchi was not promoted by any government agency. It became famous only because it is associated with internationally recognized Buddhism,” he said.
Another historian, Vijay Chaturvedi, said Vidisha's history is ancient and rich, with the Heliodorus Column of 113 BC and the historic caves of Udayagiri, but due to lack of publicity, tourists are discouraged. He said he was coming back from Sanchi.
“If the government develops the ancient sites here, people from all over the world will definitely be able to see this historical wealth, and the increase in tourism will automatically create jobs,” he said.
Yet another historian, Shiv Kumar Tiwari, said Vidisha was the business center of King Vikramaditya and was also the place where Maharishi Patanjali worked throughout his life.
He said there was not much promotion of the historic city, which has many sites of historical and archaeological significance in and around the city.
Surely Vidisha can regain its former glory if the government promotes it as a tourist circuit and the Tourism Development Corporation provides facilities to tourists, he added.
Pratap Bhanu Sharma, a senior Congress leader and the party's Vidisha candidate, accused Mr. Chouhan of not promoting Vidisha's tourism potential.
Mr Sharma, who was elected from Vidisha twice in the past, in 1980 and 1984, said, “Despite Mr Chouhan serving as chief minister four times and as an MP for five terms, he did nothing to promote tourism in Vidisha. is a fact.” .
He promised that if the Congress wins, it will create a tourist route that will cover tourist spots in and around the historic city and promote Vidisha as a major tourist destination.
Bharatiya Janata Party state spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi dismissed Sharma's claims as baseless.
Chouhan claimed that he has contributed immensely to promoting tourism not only in Vidisha but also in the entire state, which has made the Lok Sabha constituency a major tourist hub.
Voting in Vidisha will be held on May 7 in the third phase.
The Vidisha Lok Sabha seats are spread across eight assembly segments – Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore and Dewas districts.
The constituency includes Bhojpur, Sanchi (SC) and Shirwani assembly divisions in Raisen district, Vidisha and Basodha in Vidisha district, Budni and Ichawar in Sehore district and Kategaon assembly division in Dewas district.
Of the 19.38 million voters in Vidisha, 10.04 million are men and 9.34 million are women. In the 2019 elections, Ramakant Bhargava of the BJP defeated Shailendra Rameshchandra Patel of the Congress by a margin of 500,000 votes.
