Chouhan equals Modi in BJP's hat-trick club, well almost

Bhopal: Two more years in power, Shivraj Singh Chouhan would have been part of the BJP’s elite hat-trick club of chief ministers, which also houses Gujarat’s Narendra Modi. He was on the way of retaining the state with the party leading in 165 seats out of 230 when this report was being filed. The BJP came to power in Madhya Pradesh in 2003 but Shivraj took over in 2005. The Bharatiya Janata Party brushed aside charges of corruption against 13 of its ministers and fears of sabotage by dissidents on its way to record an historic victory in Madhya Pradesh. Chouhan himself won both the seats of Vidisha and Budni. No sooner had the counting of votes began at 8 am in the morning, the party took an insurmountable lead in just about two hours and sustained it all along. The probable margin of victory has even surprised the party. [caption id=“attachment_1274917” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. PTI[/caption] At the party meeting called to hail his success Chouhan said he was overwhelmed with the people’s response and dedicated the victory to the people’s trust. He especially acknowledged the contribution of the prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi who had made many visits to the state to campaign. Besides all the senior leaders he also thanked Uma Bharti , former chief minister and his critic within the state set-up. Uma Bharti’s return swelled the BJP’s tally considerably though her own nephew Rahul Singh lost the election from Khargapur in Bundelkhand region and she was quick to cry foul and blame it on sabotage by rivals within the party. Like most other leaders the state unit president Narendra Singh Tomar and the organising secretary Arvind Menon also attributed the victory to Chouhan’s untiring efforts. Although early morning projections saw the Congress surging ahead leading on six out of eight seats for which counting was first undertaken, the happiness was transient as it lasted just about 15 minutes. With prospective wins on 65 seats it stands where it did in just before the elections were called. It had 72 seats in 2008 when the BJP swamped it for a second time. Some seats were lost due to demise of the sitting MLA and some due to desertion. The Congress lost most by-elections over the past five years. The first two victories were shared by the two parties. Ramlal Rautel of the BJP was the first to be declared winner from Anuppur. He wrested the seat from the senior Congress leader Bisahulal Sahu while Nishank wrested Basoda seat for the Congress when the second result was announced. The Congress lost power in 2003 after a decade-long rule of Digvijaya Singh did not inspire the voters to reinstate it. Its show of unity just a couple of months ahead of elections was apparently too little and too late. In their early reactions even the adversaries of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan admitted that he stayed in touch with the entire state throughout his tenure of eight years so far while most satraps of the Congress have remained self-obsessed. The results have reflected the leaders’ waning charisma. Union Minister Kamal Nath who enjoys considerable support in the Mahakoshal region of the state found at least seven of his supporters losing. The party’s star campaigner and youth face Jyotiraditya Scindia who was expected to give BJP some stiff challenge has little to enthuse over his performance. He has had a mixed bag in Gwalior and Chambal his area of influence with two of his candidates posting victories. Two others were defeated. Kantilal Bhuria, the state Congress president found ground slipping under feet with most of his candidates losing in Jhabua’s tribal region. Digvijaya Singh’s son Jaivardhan Singh was ahead in the family bastion of Raghogarh. Former union minister and PCC chief and close confident of 10 Janpath household, Suresh Pachauri, who was fielded at Bhojpur to boost the party’s prospects lost heavily to Surendra Patwa, nephew of former chief minister Sunderla Patwa. The consolation win came from Churhat where leader of the opposition and son of another former chief minister Arjun Singh recorded a resounding victory. Indrajit Patel also won the Sidhi seat. The Congress leaders’ reactions were diverse but wisdom seemed to have dawned late among some. Lakshman Singh, former member of Lok Sabha and brother of Digvijaya Singh admitted that the grass-root level worker made the party and not the leader. The party, however, never allowed the grass-root workers to project their candidates. Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi who had tried to give preference to the aspirations of ground level worker failed to reflect this in the list of nominees.