In his ‘last election’, Digvijaya tries to reignite old connect with Rajgarh
The Congress veteran has mounted an old school campaign, visiting about 25 villages every day, meeting people, and holding ‘ nukkad sabhas’
round 2 p.m., when the sun is at its peak, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh visits the Hoda Mata temple atop a hill in Rajgarh’s Dhand village, barely a couple of kilometres from the State’s border with Rajasthan. After the darshan, he briey chats with vendors outside the temple, who share their views on various issues, including the broken road and an incomplete public toilet for devotees. He then heads to Bhumaria village for a small public meeting.
Loaded with a diverse pro le ranging from 10 years as the CM to the Congress general secretary to currently a Rajya Sabha member, the 77-year-old ‘Raja Saheb’ (as he is called in the area) is now the party’s Lok Sabha candidate from Rajgarh, his home
Aconstituency. He is pitted against two-term BJP MP Rodmal Nagar, who won the seat in the 2019 election by a huge margin of 4.31 lakh votes. After initial reluctance, Mr. Singh nally accepted the party leadership’s decision. However, he has made it clear that this will be his “last election”, which he does not forget to mention at his public meetings.
Old school campaign
As he arrives in the small ground of Bhumaria’s government primary school, a group of about 100 men and a handful of women gather under the tent. In his short speech, he recalls work done during his tenure as the CM between 1993 and 2003.
Apart from hitting out at the BJP on various issues, including unemployment, the prices of food items, and farmers’ woes, Mr. Singh also alleges that the Constitution is “in danger”.
“The BJP and Modiji are taking steps to end democracy,” he says.
Mr. Singh is visiting about 25 villages every day, meeting people, and holding ‘ nukkad sabhas’ (street corner gatherings) in at least ve to seven villages. His MLA son, Jaivardhan, is also actively campaigning across the constituency. Shortly after the announcement of his candidature, Mr. Singh also undertook an over 100 km-long ‘padayatra’ (foot march) across the constituency.
In all, the Congress veteran is fully old school with his campaigning.
Challenging bastion
Locals say that an extensive campaign was necessary for Mr. Singh as they complain that he “did not stay connected locally” and the BJP has made deep inroads in most parts of the constituency.
“If you ask the elders, they will be all praise for him, but the main problem is that the younger generation does not know him and his work during his tenure as the CM and as local MP [in 1984 and 1991],” says Bundel Singh Rajput, a farmer in Chachoura.
Mr. Singh himself can be heard telling the youth at meetings to ask their elders about his tenure and work.
Once a bastion of Mr. Singh and the Congress, Rajgarh has over the years turned into a stronghold for the BJP. In the 2023 Assembly election, the ruling party bagged six out of the eight Assembly seats in this Lok Sabha segment. Out of the two seats the Congress won, one was Mr. Singh’s ancestral Raghogarh, which was won by his son.
Mr. Singh, a staunch critic of the RSS and Hindutva ideology, has been in the line of re from BJP leaders for several years over his stance on various issues, including communalism.
The voters, however, say that the election this time is going to be a close contest as many claim that Mr. Nagar, the incumbent MP, has been winning comfortably due to Mr. Modi’s popularity and the absence of a strong opponent.
Dominating the constituency’s voters, the OBC community consists of about 50% of the total voting population in Rajgarh, with the majority of them hailing from the Dangi and Sondhiya sub-castes. While the Sondhiyas, who hail from across Rajasthan border, have long supported the BJP, Mr. Singh would hope for the backing of the Dangis for the caste equations to work in his favour.
Local observers, however, argue that the parliamentary election is more between Mr. Singh’s personal connect and Mr. Modi’s popularity.
On May 7, Rajgarh is set to witness a erce contest, one in which many things appear to be at stake — from Mr. Singh’s political stature to the shaping of the State Congress unit in the coming years, given his hold on the organisation.