LS polls: Former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh’s last big fight
Digvijaya Singh has reminded voters that this is his last election
“Maine tumhare pitaji ke saath bahut kaam kiya hai” says former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh as he steps off a makeshift podium, holding the hand of a Congress worker. As the young man bends to touch his feet, the seventy-year-old Singh embraces him amid cries of ‘Raja Saheb Ki Jai”.
Singh holds small rallies on street corners and hops from one to the other, reminding voters that this is his last election and that he will always be available to them, unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in New Delhi will sit and not do that. are available to solve their problems.
“Yeh mera aakhri chunaav, mujhe paanch saal dijiye main aaplogon jeewan main badlaw laa ke rahunga (this is my last election; give me five years, I will bring change in your life),” says Singh, without revealing any sign of fatigue or exhaustion that the hot sun might have caused.
“They (BJP) are saying ‘don’t look at the candidate but vote in the name of (Narendra) Modi’… his bhai, agar Modiji ko dekhte to Benaras se chunaav ladhte … yaa woh yahan Rajgarh se ladhte. Agar aap koi pareshanni hui to aap Modiji kee paas thorri naa jaaoge … aap log to aapne sansad ke paas jaoge, but yahan ke sansad to dikhte he nahi hain (If we wanted to see Modi, we would have fought the election from Benaras, or he would have had to fight from Rajgarh. If someone is in trouble, don’t go to Modi, approach your local MP, who is not available).
The Rajgarh Lok Sabha constituency was earlier a Congress bastion but has overwhelmingly turned to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent elections. The current Lok Sabha candidate, Rodmal Nagar, won in 2014 and 2019.
Rajgarh consists of eight Vidhan Sabha constituencies, of which the BJP has six and only two – Raghogarh and Sushner (in Agar-Malwa) districts – are now Congress.
Known as one of the tallest Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh, Digvijaya Singh is trying to create a ‘crowd connect’, which has been his forte since his heyday as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
In between, he does not forget to mention the fact that the Congress government in the state, formed in 2018 under the chief ministership of Kamal Nath, collapsed due to the ‘betrayal’ of some people.
“Hamare yahan jo aaata hain hum ussko pehle line main bithaate hain but BJP ke yahan jaanewaale ko akhri line main dhakeel deeya jaata hai (those who come to us, we let sit in the front row and those who join the BJP are pushed to the background),” Singh said, reminding the people of Jyotiraditya Scindia’s uprising that led to the demise of the short-lived government. .
Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, he says the Rashtriya Swaymsevak Sangh is still a truthful organization but the parivaar Modi is talking about is a ‘family of thugs’.
“Sab Congress leaders Jinke Khilaaf accuses the BJP of main jaane ke baad badhe badhe post main bithaa deeye gayein hain. Chaahe woh Assam ke CM ho yaa Maharashtra ke deputy CM (those who have allegations of corruption against them and join the BJP get plum posts).
Earlier, the BJP said it is taking on Congressmukt Bharat, but now they are determined to make Congress…Yukt BJP.
Stepping into another village (Bhainswa), largely dominated by people from the Meena community, Singh parks his car next to a small temple, wearing his Hindu credentials on his sleeve.
“They (BJP) say Lord Ram is fighting against me. Tell me, if Lord Ram had fought against me, would I have ever filed my nomination. In Raghogarh (which falls within the Rajgarh constituency and is Singh’s former estate) there is a temple of Raghvaji, which is 400 years old. There is an eternal lamp that always burns there. Who doesn’t worship Lord Ram, but the BJP calls me Hindu virodhi or Aries virodhi” said Singh.
He reminded the predominantly agricultural audience of the failed promises of the Modi government and also how the state BJP and the Central government used the ‘Ladli Behna’ yojana to garner votes during the state elections but immediately after started removing names (of beneficiaries).
Singh is running a low-key campaign, backed by a team of young professionals who also run a call center to connect with the youth, whom he may find difficult to convince.
About 20 km away, Amrita Singh, Singh’s wife and former journalist, is assisting her husband in his campaign with door-to-door meetings of mainly rural women in a village called ‘KesariyaBe’.
She too is trying to convince voters that Congress will empower women and give them monthly stipends even as women list their issues.
Her connection with the audience is immediate when she talks about the jewelry they wear.
“Congress naal rahoge to aish karoge (If you stay with the Congress, you will be cheerful),” concludes Amrita Singh, borrowing a line from a popular Hindi song.
First print: May 03, 2024 | 12:34 pm IST