Sushupti wrote:Chouhan seeks Modi help to win elections
Bhopal, Nov. 3: The Madhya Pradesh polls appear headed for a tight finish,
prompting Shivraj Singh Chouhan to seek three more rallies in the state by Narendra Modi,
whom he was once keen to keep off the campaign because of his anti-minority image.
Sources said the
BJP chief minister had sought the help of party president Rajnath Singh and general secretary Ram Lal to persuade Modi to give more time to Madhya Pradesh. The Chouhan camp is confident that after Diwali (today), Modi would be able to spend three days in the state, which votes on November 25.
That suggests Modi would hold six public meetings in the state’s various regions. Earlier, the Gujarat chief minister was expected to hold three meetings in the state.
Shivraj, who has a good image among Muslims because of his welfare schemes, had even a couple of months ago been keen to avoid any mention of Modi in his campaign. But he has recently been trying to mend fences and got him to address a rally in Bhopal in September.
Highly placed state BJP sources said that when Chouhan began his Jan Ashirwad Yatra on July 22 — with Modi’s pictures notably absent from the posters and banners — he had seemed comfortably placed to win a third straight time. Now, three weeks before the elections, he is apparently finding the going tough.
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Anti-incumbency” is said to be working against many state BJP lawmakers. The unity in the Congress, the stampede in Datia that killed over 100 people, low-level corruption, backwardness in the Chambal-Gwalior region and the unpopularity of many senior ministers are said to have narrowed the gap between the BJP and the Congress.
BJP sources said they expected the party to win 124 seats in the 230-member Assembly, with the Congress bagging around 100. The BJP now has 148 MLAs against the Congress’s 69.
Even a few months ago, Chouhan had been perceived as a challenger to Modi in the race for prime ministerial candidate and, with L.K. Advani’s backing, engaged in a game of one-upmanship with his rival.
But, state BJP leaders said, his 50-day Yatra has allowed Chouhan to gauge the voters’ mood and realise that his clean image is in danger of being offset by resentment against party MLAs and ministers.
Chouhan apparently believes that while his welfare schemes have reached the poor, many voters are dissatisfied with the health services, state of roads, and corruption in the lower bureaucracy.
So, he apparently wants to stoke resentment against the UPA government on the issues of price rise, national security, corruption at high places, and “cultural nationalism” and believes Modi is the best man for the job.
The Chouhan camp was counting on Congress disunity but over last month, apparently under Rahul Gandhi’s prodding, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath have presented a picture of unity.
Rahul has made every senior Congress leader from the state accountable for certain seats in their area of influence. Sources say these leaders’ future growth depend on the party’s performance next month in their perceived fiefs.
Congress leaders from the state had created a flutter by announcing that Sachin Tendulkar and actress Rekha would campaign for the party. The cricketer has denied any such plans.
State Congress coordinator Pramod Gugalia recently named central party official Sanjay Nirupam as his source for the “information”, but Nirupam has denied the claim.
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