By Nirendra Dev

Katni/Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), Nov 20 (UNI) Nerve wracking electoral management by BJP chief Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's 'neighbour next door Mama' image and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's powerful magical influence could save the day for the ruling BJP which is facing double "anti-incumbency" in November 28 polls.

With extensive campaign in the last few days the BJP is hoping to cash in on Mr Modi’s popularity and gift of the gab power.

Local analysts point out that Mr Modi has tried to strike direct chord with the crowd everywhere he addressed and and flagged off different issues in different constituencies so far - and much to the comfort of local supporters.

In Vijayraghavgarh assembly segment in Katni district, locals say, the 'ground electoral management' was handled by Chief Minister Chouhan himself as the BJP ticket was passed on to Sanjay Pathak, also a state Minister.
Notably, Mr Pathak had won 2013 elections from this seat on Congress ticket but he changed flank in
2014 and won again the by-poll.

Vijayraghavgarh constituency was once known as a Congress bastion. Mr Pathak's victory margin in 2014 by polls against Congress candidate Vijendra Mishra was quite convincing by over 53,000 votes. But the battle has turned curious now that the former BJP candidate Padma Shukla quit the saffron outfit and and has joined the Congress.

"This is one live case of CM Chouhan doing micro management in some seats of his choice. This is not only in this region. In Gwalior East, BJP dropped Maya Singh, also a Minister, and the ticket was given to Satish Sikarwar," a party source said in Jabalpur.

Former home minister Kailash Chawla was also denied Manasa ticket.

It is also said that Mr Chouhan personally intervened and denied tickets to Harsh Singh from Rampur Baghelan and Gaurishankar Shejwar from Sanchi (SC reserved seat).

Some, however, say in seats such as Vijayraghavgarh, the Chief Minister is taking a risk as his preferred candidate Sanjay Pathak could win 2013 battle only by a slender margin of 929 votes.

Sources point out in his election rallies, Prime Minister Modi is making his speeches according to well crafted strategies.

So far in Madhya Pradesh, Mr Modi has addressed key rallies in Gwalior, Shahdol, Chhindwara and Indore and in each place tried to strike a personal chord with the gathering by raising issues the electorate could easily identify with.
In Gwalior, Mr Modi paid tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia (grandmother of Congress CM aspirant Jyotiraditya Scindia) and former BJP chief Kushabhau Thakre - all three leaders who nurtured BJP during its infancy years in Gwalior region.

The Prime Minister slammed Congress veteran Kamal Nath in his bastion Chhindwara while he tried to deal with issues of industrialisation and development in Indore.

“Instead of bending down in ‘Dilli Darbar’, had nine-time MP Kamal Nath bent for Madhya Pradesh public, the state’s situation would have been different," he mocked at Chhindwara stalwart for playing second fiddle to the Nehru-Gandhi family since the time of Emergency in 1970s.

Prime Minister's dig at "Diggy Raja (former Congress CM Digvijaya Singh)" was received overwhelmingly by the Indore crowd.

In doing so, both Prime Minister Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah also tried to draw political mileage by
raking up 'one family rule' of the Congress and sought to make a big issue of how the 'dynasty' has allegedly humiliated the likes of P V Narasimha Rao, Sitaram Kesri, Jagjivan Ram and Acharya Kripalini.

"These may not look good issues from an intellectual perspective, but electioneering is not about talking only about intelligentsia-like issues, but to strike emotional chord with the voters and Prime Minister Modi is very good at that," said Jabalpur-based trader Nitin Baghel.

Many Modi admirers like Baghel are looking forward eagerly towards Prime Minister's rally at Jabalpur on November 25.

How much of all the virtues of Mr Modi and his oratory skills can help BJP stonewall the anti-incumbency mood - of course - remains to be seen.

For his part, the Congress president Rahul Gandhi too did not lag behind and in all the campaign rallies has tried to corner Mr Modi on Rafale aircraft deal.

In Chhindwara and Gwalior, BJP supporters say the party's audio-visual ad "Maaf Karo Maharaj, Hamara neta Shivraj (Please forgive us you towering leaders, Our leader is Shivraj Singh Chouhan)" has gone down well with voters as Gwalior's royal scion Jyotiraditya Scindia and Chhindwara strongman Kamal Nath are "generally seen as ivory tower leaders, hardly mixing freely with commoners".

On one hand, while BJP leaders say ever since Mr Modi kick-started started his campaign in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the electoral landscape seemed to have changed in their favour, the Congress strategies on the other hand, too are working out plans to counter the 'Modi blitzkrieg'.

A local Congress leader said perhaps after Rahul Gandhi, the party can bank on cricketer-turned-Punjab Minister Navjyot Singh Sidhu - renowned in his own right for one liners popularly called 'Siddhuisms'.

Mr Sidhu will be addressing a number of rallies in the central Indian state wherein of course Sikhs account for hardly 0.22 per cent of the 7.5 crore population.
UNI DEVN RSA 1030