STATE POLLS GET VOCAL FOR LOCAL

WARS can create giants out of pygmies. In this month's state election battles, small is big. As five of India's 30 states go to polls, party strategies have changed-DIY is abbreviation for aggression.

- PRABHU CHAWLA

The focus has shifted from New Delhi to the state capitals, with the BJP abjuring the 'double engine sarkar' pitch, while the Gandhi parivar's motto is 'minimum is maximum'. Reduced in scale are roadshows, pageantry and the flyand-fire visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and prominent central ministers.

Though BJP leaders and supporters are singing the usual paeans, showering encomiums on Modi and distributing Modi Guarantee as its manifesto, the high command has directed them to manage their own campaigns and ensure victory if they want their cigar.

The Congress is in the same boat. Both national outfits have realised that uberleadership alone isn't enough-victory would depend on the decisive role of local satraps and issues. The answer lies in cracking the regional Rubik's cube to get the blocks in alignment.

Rajasthan: Will it get a new CM? Total seats 200: Congress 109, BJP 70 Among the five poll-bond states, Rajasthan has an unaltered historical precedent. Since 1980, it has never voted for a party consecutively. It is also one of the few states that have enjoyed maximum political stability because the Congress under Nehru and later Sonia hasn't changed the state leadership frequently, like in many other Congress states.

Starting with its first chief minister Heera Lal Shastri in 1949, Rajasthan has had 19 CMs who have governed without interruption. Ashok Gehlot has spent 15 years in office over four terms; he is seeking a fifth now. His traditional rival Vasundhara Raje Scindia from the BJP is the only woman CM of a state dominated by patriarchal traditions. After the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat a local stalwart with nationwide acceptability in his party-the BJP hasn't found a home-grown replacement. Raje, whose association with Rajasthan is through her in-laws, captured the political space largely with personal charisma.