Digvijay takes the rural route

The incumbent Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh has effected a change in his strategy by shifting focus to rural areas in his bid to retain power in the state.

With polling due to elect the 230-member new state legislative assembly on December 1, Singh has decided to concentrate on the 140 rural seats, realising the urban voters may not be inclined to vote him to power for a record third consecutive term. He is hoping to address nearly 60 more constituencies before campaigning ends on November 29.

According to a senior Congress party leader close to him, wooing rural voters is his only hope to survive in power.

"We knew it for long that bad roads and electricity scarcity will become major poll issues, which they have. He thinks he can easily win nearly 100 out of those 140 rural seats. His calculations are that we may still win at least 15 out of 90 urban seats and would be able to form the government," sources said, adding that if it does happen, it will be nothing short of a "political miracle," he said.

Seeing the mood of the Congress party leaders and workers, it is clear that they are prepared to taste defeat at the hands of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Party cadres are already on the defensive.

Political observers here feel that the BJP may ride to power on the strength of negative voting. They point out that the voters do not have any great hopes from the BJP. They just want to teach Diggy Raja (as Digvijay Singh, scion of the Raghogarh royal family, is popularly called) a lesson.

While the party leaders and cadres are silent on why roads in the state are in such a poor state, they take recourse to the factthat Madhya Pradesh is not the only state facing electricity shortages.

Addressing a rally along with party chief and its star campaigner Sonia Gandhi at Morena yesterday, Singh pointed out that India itself is deficient in the field of electricity and several other states including more developed Maharashtra and Gujarat also have to ration electricity. "Why blame only Madhya Pradesh when it is a national phenomenon?" he questioned.

Creation of Chhattisgarh as a separate state has hit Madhya Pradesh where it hurts the most. Until its creation three years ago, the state used to generate enough electricity to meet its demands.

However, after the state was split, all sources generating power went to Chhattisgarh. People not used to electricity rationing and black outs are not taking to this kindly.

Pushed to the defensive on development, particularly as poor roads and the electricity crisis become major issues, the party cadres are sounding apologetic while approaching voters.

Member of Parliament Prafful Maheshwari was seen telling voters of Bagh Umrao Dulha, a Muslim locality falling under South Bhopal constituency, to vote to his party for the sake of continuity.

Elsewhere, Gulf News saw the local Congress leaders seeking votes by creating a sense of panic among Muslim voters.

"For the past 10 years you have had no communal riots. Will you vote for a communal party (BJP) only because you may be angry with us. We agree we may not have come up to your expectations but we are there to ratify it," a Congress party councillor in the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, Anwar Guddu, told voters.

The voters are clearly disillusioned. "It's a choice between the devil and the deep sea. Most of us are disillusioned with the Congress party and this anti-incumbency factor will help the BJP," said Sarfaraz Khan, a local businessman.