Not just ModiShah, local leaders in focus

NEW DELHI: The assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan represent a departure from all state polls that the BJP has fought under PM Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah since 2014.

This is because the party is an incumbent and not a challenger, and has powerful state leaders who have their own voice, opinion, stakes, and patronage networks and therefore are almost equal partners in the party’s strategy.

The BJP was the challenger in 19 of the 22 state elections since 2014. Of this, it was an important player in 15 and formed the government in 12. In three cases, the party was in power and couldn’t form the government in one: Punjab.

This time, three states have powerful CMs (Shivraj Singh Chouhan in MP, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh and Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan) due to which the party’s decision-making appears far more decentralised than in the past.

Campaigning for the second and final phase of assembly elections in Chhattisgarh ended on Sunday evening.

The polling in 72 constituencies spread across 19 districts will be held on November 20. A total of 1,101 candidates, including nine cabinet ministers, are contesting in this phase.

Five Districts, Dhamtari, Mahasamund, Kabirdham, Jashpur and Balrampur, are Maoist-affected and security has been tightened to ensure peaceful polling.

The campaign for this phase was dominated by farmers’ issues and allegations of corruption.

In the 2013 assembly polls, the Congress had won 15 seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 34.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed two rallies – Ambikapur and Mahasamund in last one week -- and attacked the Gandhi family over allegations of dynasty politics, while BJP chief Amit Shah accused the Congress of peddling lies and misleading the people.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi repeatedly underlined a promise to waive farm loans and reiterated charges of corruption against the central government.

This phase of polling is also a test for former chief minister Ajit Jogi, whose Janata Congress Chhattisgarh is fighting the elections in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party and Communist Party of India (CPI).

Jogi is himself contesting from Marwahi constituency and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also addressed a dozen rallies.

Both parties exuded confidence ahead of polling.

“(Chief minister) Raman Singh is suffering from strong anti-incumbency and this is in favour of us.

“People of Chhattisgarh are fed-up with the policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party government. We believe that the Congress will get a clear majority and this phase is important for that,” said RP Singh , Congress spokesperson.

“We are banking on the development work done by Raman Singh. He is the only face in Chhattisgarh . We are winning more than 65 seats in Chhattisgarh in this assembly election,” said Sacchinand Upasane, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson .

“Both Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party are fighting a close battle this time,” said Ashok Tomar , a Raipur-based political commentator.