More than the support of saffron-clad saints from various parts of the country, his image of a “local person” may come handy for senior Congress Digvijaya Singh in his fight against BJP candidate and an accused in Hindutva terror cases Sadhvi Pragya Thakur.
The campaign — she doesn’t belong to Bhopal — works more against Thakur than the terror taint. The BJP workers in the city are also worried about this aspect in elections.
To ensure that things do not go out of hand, former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan himself is steering the campaign for Thakur.
“Eighteen minister are working for Digvijaya Singh in this constituency. The entire State machinery is being used to ensure that he wins. The contest has become unpredictable,” said Santosh, a tea stall owner in the city. Santosh said he is a BJP supporter.
For the last three decades, Bhopal constituency has stood consistently with the BJP. Sushil Chandra Verma, Kailash Joshi, Uma Bharti and Alok Sanjar have represented the seat in the Lok Sabha for the BJP since 1989. This time, the Congress has decided to give a tough fight by fielding the former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh.
Many seers, including Shankaracharya Swarupanand Saraswati, came in support of Singh. However, BJP workers do not see a reason for changing voting preference. “Many of the saints whom the Congress brought for the campaign were fake. The issue here is attack against Hindutva. Singh and his party tried to arrest a Sadhvi in false charges,” said Anil, an RSS worker.
Another BJP voter, Pankaj, said the votes for the BJP are not for Thakur, but for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The BJP will win in Modi’s name. Thakur is an outsider. She does not have a support base of her own than some ultra-nationalists. But she is a BJP candidate and the BJP has a majority of four lakh votes than the Congress,” he said.
Attempts for communal polarisation are also taking place. “Singh will not get votes from villages. His base is in the old city (meaning that he has support only from the Muslims),” said Raju an auto rickshaw driver.
Sanjay, a book vendor, contested this and said there is a base for the Congress in the main city too. “Thakur is a non-serious candiate. Singh has been in politics for long. He will get even the BJP votes,” he said.