Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Credit: PTI Photo
Amrita Madhukalya
New Delhi:
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan faces perhaps his toughest political battle this election season. His name was finally announced in the third list of the BJP's candidates on Monday. Trouble for the state's longest-serving CM has been brewing from both within and outside the party.
Chouhan’s name was finally cleared by the party in the third list released on Monday, but only after the BJP central elections committee had in its two lists nominated three union ministers and many MPs to contest the assembly polls. On Monday, among a set of 57 names, the party also named State Home Minister Narottam Mishra from Datia.
A miffed Chouhan asked his voters at an elections rally in Budhni last week whether he should contest the elections or not, ostensibly because the party has not projected a CM face for the election. Chouhan, who replaced the firebrand sanyasi Uma Bharti in 2005, has been the face of the party in MP, the second laboratory for the RSS-BJP combine after Gujarat. His schemes for rural development with a special focus on women helped the BJP romp home in three consecutive polls till 2018 - when the Congress, under Kamal Nath, edged past by a whisker to form the government. Shivraj was back on the saddle 15 months later when then Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia defected to the BJP, taking many MLAs with him, thus toppling Nath's government.
As he faces the electorate again, Chouhan knows he is up against almost two decades of anti-incumbency. He has announced a slew of schemes for women ahead of the polls, including a Rs 15,000 annual dole for women under the flagship Laadli Behna Yojna.
With Scindia out of the party, the Congress more or less seems to have resolved its leadership issues, with Kamal Nath emerging as the chief manager and organiser. The radio silence of former CM Digvijay Singh, especially on polarizing issues, has helped the Congress focus on developmental issues.
Following their decisive victory in the Karnataka elections, the Congress is focusing on inflation and unemployment in MP. The party has made the implementation of '5-guarantees' its calling card. This includes the old pension scheme, LPG cylinder for ₹500, ₹1,500 per month for women, power subsidy, and resumption of the farm loan waiver scheme.