BHOPAL: Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Madhya Pradesh’s longest-serving chief minister and a BJP stalwart, is likely to play an critical role in national politics, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently telling an election rally that he wants to “take him to Delhi (at the center)”. Chouhan, who was the chief minister from 2005 to 2023, is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from his stronghold of Vidisha, an old town coincidentally located on the Bhopal-Delhi railway route.
The BJP candidate is competing against Pratap Bhanu Sharma, a Congressman who won the seat in 1980 and 1984 thanks to the influence of Indira Gandhi’s post-crisis juggernaut and later the outpouring of sympathy following her death. These were the only two times Congress won a seat since its creation in 1967.
Addressing a rally in Harda in Madhya Pradesh on April 24, Prime Minister Modi praised Chouhan, saying the two had served together in the party organization and also as chief ministers. “When Shivraj went to Parliament, I worked together as the party’s general secretary. Now I want to take him with me (to Delhi) once again,” Modi said at the rally.
Incidentally, Chouhan arrived in Vidisha by a Delhi-bound train after announcing his candidature. He led the BJP to a landslide victory in last year’s Assembly polls, although the party, in a surprise move, chose Mohan Yadav as his successor.
Fondly called “mama” (uncle) and “paon paon wale bhaiya” in his youth, Chouhan will be contesting his sixth Lok Sabha election from Vidisha, a seat represented by BJP stalwarts such as the behind schedule Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1991) and Sushma Swaraj (2009 and 2014), and newspaper publisher Ramnath Goenka (1971).
After his name was announced, Chouhan said that the seat was handed over to him by Vajpayee and it was heartening that he was given the opportunity to represent the association again after 20 years.
“BJP is my mother who has given me everything,” Chouhan had said then. Chouhan, after first serving as an MLA from his home ground of Budhni, was fielded by the BJP in the 1992 LS by-elections caused by the resignation of sitting MP Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He represented the seat five times as an MP until 2004, when he resigned as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh in 2005. “I am participating in the contest only as a ritual as it does not pose a challenge to us. We will win even in the booths that we have traditionally voted for the Congress. Our aim is to raise this advantage Shivraj ji himself is reaching out to all parties,” BJP state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal, who hails from the Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency, told PTI.
On the campaign trail, Chouhan, accompanied by his wife Sadhana Singh, can be seen interacting with street food vendors, enjoying chaat and samosas with a cup of tea. He also tries to meet with voters, especially women, who make up a immense part of his support.
However, Vidisha district Congress president Mohit Raghuvanshi accused Chouhan of ignoring Vidisha parliamentary areas despite being a local parliamentarian and former prime minister, accusing the BJP leader of not fulfilling his promises.
“Chouhan, who was the main face of the BJP in the state for two decades, was confined to Vidisha for campaigning in view of the sedate challenge posed by the Congress. He has been reduced to the status of a local leader,” Raghuvanshi told PTI.
He alleged that Congress candidate Sharma set up educational institutions when he was an MP for two terms and also at a time when there was no local development fund for MPs.
Rasheed Kidwai, a senior journalist and political observer, told PTI that the BJP, under pressure from its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevaka Sangha, was “forced” to remove Chouhan from office.
“It is an open secret that there was an attempt to check Shivraj’s popularity, but the BJP, under pressure from the RSS and women voters, decided to field the former chief minister,” Kidwai said.
“He is going to win by a huge margin. If he wins by the largest margin in the state or the entire country, it will likely become a major talking point and will be compared with the margins in Varanasi, Gandhinagar, Lucknow and elsewhere,” Kidwai added.
However, time will tell how Chouhan will fit into the Modi-Amit Shah lineup, Kidwai said. The Vidisha Lok Sabha seat is spread over eight assembly seats in Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore and Dewas constituencies.
Bhojpur, Sanchi (SC) and Silwani constituencies are in Raisen district, Vidisha and Basoda in Vidisha district, Budhni and Icchawar in Sehore and Khategaon in Dewas.
Seven of the eight assembly segments of the Vidisha LS seat are currently held by the BJP, with Chouhan representing Budhni. Swaraj won the 2009 Lok Sabha polls by a margin of 3.90 lakh votes after the nomination of Congress candidate Rajkumar Patel, former MLA from Budhni and cabinet minister Digvijay Singh, was rejected on a technicality.
According to local BJP leader Vidisha, the Lok Sabha is 80% rural and OBC-dominated, including a significant section of the Dhakad-Kirar community in Chouhan, as well as 35% SC/ST.
Of the 19.38 lakh eligible voters in Vidisha, 10.04 lakh are men and 9.34 lakh are women.
