ON A SHAKY WICKET

SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN'S BATTLE LIES BOTH WITHIN AND OUTSIDE HIS PARTY AS HE STRIVES TO OVERCOME THE ANTI-INCUMBENCY OF 16 YEARS

- RAHUL NORONHA

"Aisa bhaiyya nahin milega. Jab main chala jaunga, to bahut yaad aaunga (You won't find a brother like me. You will miss me a lot when I am gone)," Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told a group of women beneficiaries in Ladkui village in Budhni constituency, a seat he represents, on October 1. Two days later, at an outreach programme in Sehore, Chouhan asked the assembled gathering: "Should we fight the election or not?"

For someone who has held the reins of his state for over 16 years, Chouhan's successive statements betrayed the insecurity of a man fighting for political survival, within and outside his party. Chouhan is no stranger to the heat and dust of an election; he thrives on such occasions, in fact. He led the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to victory in 2008 and 2013 with comfortable margins, and the party lost the 2018 election only by a whisker-winning 109 seats to the Congress's 114-despite getting more votes. Chouhan was back in the saddle after Jyotiraditya Scindia's defection along with 22 MLAs precipitated the fall of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in March 2020.

However, the political wind seems to be blowing the other way for Chouhan this election season. For one, the BJP's central leadership is directing the entire show, be it candidate selection or poll strategy. Union ministers Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw have been drafted for the election. Most critically for Chouhan, the party has shied away from projecting him as the CM candidate. There are fewer mentions of him in speeches in public meetings, and he is one among the many in whose names votes are being sought. What explains it and how does Chouhan ride this trough?