More about the rural-urban divide
seven others.
Chouhan is an interesting political phenomenon. He has been chief minister for 13 years now , making him one of the longest serving contemporary leaders of a Hindi heartland state. His success lies in his genial, low key demeanour. In an age of the muscular strongmen netas, he is a link with a previous, gentler, more accommodative era of a politician with friends on all sides. He is the ‘kisan putra’ (farmer’s son) who isn’t ‘MP ka sher’ (MP’S lion) but a more avuncular, ever smiling Mamaji (maternal uncle).
The Congress’s challenge is to capitalise on the creeping anti incumbency and agrarian distress while also offering a viable alternative to a popular chieftain. It isn’t an easy task for a party which appears to drift from one election to another, its ubiquitous high command culture preventing the rise of a robust worker-driven organisation that can compete with the well-entrenched RSS network in the region. “Congress is a party without a dulha (groom) or sangathan (organisation) in MP,” a sweet shop owner pointedly remarks. It is not an unfamiliar situation for a party whose ancien regime in MP now seeks to coexist with its younger faces in the guise of a concept of collective leadership.
But this isn’t a normal BJP versus Congress battle in a traditional bipolar state. In almost every seat, there are an unusually high number of independents and rebel candidates. In what local observers insist is a ‘kaante ki takkar’ (closely fought) election, the ‘vote katuas’ (vote cutters), some of whom are reportedly sponsored to divide the anti-bjp vote, may yet have a role to play. Will MP 2018 then be a repeat of Gujarat 2017, an election that goes down to the wire?
Post-script: In TV studios, we pitch every election as Modi vs Rahul, almost a presidential style battle, but on the dusty tracks of Malwa, this leadership bout offers less attraction. An auto parts shop owner on the Indore Ujjain highway sums it up. “When after notebandi and then GST, my business suffered, no big leader came to support us. Yeh bas chunaav ke time vote maangne aate hai! (they come only during the elections asking for votes!)” When hope turns to disillusionment, every party should be more wary of making the usual tall promises.
Rajdeep Sardesai is senior journalist and author The views expressed are personal