In an election where its being said that there is a “fatigue factor” working against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his 18 year stay at the helm, folks in his Assembly constituency of Budhni insist that the only fatigue in question is Mr. Chouhan’s own physical exhaustion as he keeps to a punishing campaign schedule.
“We have told him he needn’t come back here after filing nomination papers for his polls, we will ensure he wins yet again,” says Mukesh Chouhan, a long time neighbour of Mr. Chouhan’s family from his village of Jait, in Budhni. “There is no fatigue, he is visiting at least 3-4 Assembly seats every day after having already touched almost all 230 seats during the Jan Ashirwad Yatra,” he adds.
Mr. Chouhan has not been projected as a Chief Ministerial face by the BJP under its “collective leadership” plank and the fielding of seven MPs with three Union Ministers among them as potential contenders for the top job if the BJP is re-elected, is in contrast to the BJP’s emphasis on Mr. Chouhan’s record in implementing welfare schemes.
