Madhya Pradesh elections: Voters say four terms too many for Chouhan; Congress makes a dent but support for Modi unflinching

BJP has been in power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003 – except for a 15-month period – and Shivraj Singh Chouhan first took over as chief minister in November 2005.

Chhatarpur/Panna: “BJP ko nahi jaana chahiye, Shivraj ko jaana chahiye,” (BJP should not go, Shivraj should go), declares Shankar Pratap Yadav, a grocery shop owner in Chhatarpur, which is in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh.

Yadav was referring to the electoral fatigue against four-time chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. However, he said he will continue to support the Bharatiya Janata Party in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the hope that a new chief minister takes over.

About 80 km away, Manish Yadav, a contractor in Panna, agrees to the anti-incumbency factor, but he may support the rival Congress party.

“No work has happened in our town. If they have not worked in 20 years, why should they be given another chance? At least the 15-month tenure of Congress showed some promise,” he said.

These two voices sum up how the electorate in Madhya Pradesh, especially in the Bundelkhand region, feels ahead of polling in the state next week. While the Congress hopes to benefit from the anti-incumbency sentiment, the BJP looks to tide it over by banking on Modi’s popularity and a welfare pitch.

The state is significant to the electoral calculations of both the national parties as they gear up for the all-important Lok Sabha elections next year.

Madhya Pradesh goes to the polls on November 17 and counting for the state, along with Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Telangana and Rajasthan, is on December 3. This is the last set of assembly elections before the Lok Sabha polls.

Anti-incumbency

The BJP has been in power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003 – except for a 15-month period – and Chouhan first took over as chief minister in November 2005. In December 2018, the BJP lost the elections and the Kamal Nath-led Congress came to power. However, Nath resigned as chief minister 15 months later ahead of a trust vote, marking the return of Chouhan to the top post.

Chouhan is seeking a fifth term on the back of populist promises, outreach to women voters and a welfare pitch. He is contesting from the Budhni assembly constituency in Sehore district, which has been with the BJP since 1985.

Several voters across Panna and Chhatarpur districts said that state-run schemes like monthly financial assistance for underprivileged women called Laadli Behna Yojana are working in Chouhan’s favour and that he is indeed putting up a spirited fight in the poll campaign. However, they also said that his long-drawn tenure is seen with dissatisfaction over issues of service delivery, lack of development and inadequate handling of unemployment, farm distress and inflation.

Jagat Pratap Singh, a farmer from Nayagaon village in Rajnagar assembly constituency, said the ‘poor have become poorer’ in the state and more needs to be done to uplift people from the rural areas.

“A state government is known by its chief minister. A change in our state is imminent – whether it is only the chief minister or also the party, that only time will tell,” he added.

Modi’s popularity

On the ground, the BJP is cognisant of the sentiment that voters like Singh have. The campaign hence prominently features Modi and is centered around slogans like “MP ke mann mei Modi” (Modi is in the heart of Madhya Pradesh).

Several voters from the two districts agreed that Modi’s popularity remains high and even a section of them who are unhappy with the state government may vote for the BJP, keeping the Modi factor in mind.

Vandana Parihar, a 35-year-old housewife from Tindani village in Maharajpur, said that for her it is “Modi and only Modi.” She is a beneficiary of the Laadli Behna Yojana but said that central government schemes like Kisan Samman Nidhi (minimum income support for farmers) have helped her family more.

“It does not matter which election it is for – state or centre – my vote is always for Modi,” she added.

Modi made a personal outreach in the campaign. Last month, he wrote an open letter to the people of the state, asking them to extend “seedha samarthan,” or direct support, to him and elect a ‘double-engine’ government. In the letter, he praised the work done by Chouhan and his government.

Congress makes a dent

The Congress campaign in Madhya Pradesh is focused on welfare, including the promise of a farm loan waiver, a return to the old pension scheme, and an unemployment allowance for youth. Led by Nath, the Congress has directly attacked Chouhan, accusing his government of corruption – a charge that the latter has denied in public meetings.

Top party leaders including general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are campaigning actively. Voters from the two districts said that since the short-lived Congress government fell in 2020, it has made a dent among the electorate, largely through its developmental promises and anti-incumbency against Chouhan.