Singh, the only Congress leader matching Chief Minister Chouhan in terms of pan-state popularity, recently quelled a rebellion which was threatening to spiral in the aftermath of ticket distribution
An eerie silence prevails in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh where main contenders – Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress – are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball contest for 230 seats in the state assembly.
The large cutouts of candidates and party flags, one associates with the election season, are missing, also absent is the high decibel audio equipment that threatens to shatter eardrums with the shrill of campaign rhetoric.
The silence is surprising at a time when Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, spearheading the campaign for the ruling BJP, is attempting to calm ruffled feathers and the main opposition Congress is threatening to kick up an anti-incumbency storm to oust him from power.
The Congress challenge, to end a decade-and-a-half-long BJP tenure in office, is focused around discontent, which is said to be simmering in this central state, and the BJP is counting on the son of the soil image and pan-state popularity of Chief Minister Chouhan to safeguard its citadel.
Chief Minister Chouhan, a five-time parliamentarian, is known for his rustic charm and easy demeanour which helps him strike commonality with the man on the street but it is the women who are his staunchest supporters owing to a raft of initiatives launched for their welfare.
Riddled by factionalism for decades now, the Congress has done well to broker peace between its regional warhorses since former union minister Kamal Nath took over as chief of the state unit earlier this year.
While Kamal Nath is leading the campaign with support from prominent leaders including former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh, the absence of senior party leader and former chief minister, Digvijay Singh, is conspicuous.
Singh, the only Congress leader matching Chief Minister Chouhan in terms of pan-state popularity, recently quelled a rebellion which was threatening to spiral in the aftermath of ticket distribution.
Former union minister and four-time Rajya Sabha parliamentarian Suresh Pachouri is contesting the Bhojpur assembly constituency on the outskirts of the state capital.
Poll watchers say rebellion, in both BJP and Congress, and the resurgence of the Bahujan Samaj Party in districts bordering Uttar Pradesh has left the November 28 contest pretty evenly poised.
With less than a week to go for the elections and parties, analysts and voters refusing to divulge plans or hazard guesses, it is still difficult to say if the noticeable silence on the streets will continue to remain or translate into a tsunami when results are declared on December 11.
POLL PUNDITS MUM
With less than a week to go for polls and parties, analysts and voters refusing to divulge plans or hazard guesses, it is still difficult to say if the noticeable silence on the streets will continue to remain, or translate into a tsunami when results are declared on Dec 11.
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 "Shivraj Singh Chouhan")
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