Chouhan Yatra aims to seal Cong Fate

Bhopal: All eyes are on the “Jan Ashirvad Yatra”, the 51-day poll campaign launched by Madhya Pradesh’s three-time chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on July 14 from the temple city of Ujjain to drum up support for the ruling BJP in the Assembly elections in November.

Flagged off by BJP president Amit Shah, Mr Chouhan’s yatra, like the two earlier such campaigns he had held before the 2008 and 2013 Assembly elections, is billed to set the tone for the coming elections by re-establishing the popularity of the chief minister in a state which has a history of seeing two-party contests between the BJP and the Congress.

The political significance of the BJP’s “Jan Ashirvad Yatra” (drive to seek blessings from people) can be gauged from the knee jerk response it has evoked from the Congress that has launched a counter march called the  “Jan Jagaran Yatra”, public awareness campaign, on July 18 from Ujjain within just four days after Mr Chouhan began his 8,000 km poll journey in a luxury bus converted into a chariot.

The Congress chariot will virtually chase its rival BJP “rath” to negate the goodwill generated by the chief minister among the voters for his party during tour. “Our ‘pol khol’ (expose) yatra will call chief minister’s bluff,” said Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedy.

But, the chief minister appears unfazed.  “The Congress has nothing to say against me.  Hence, the party is spreading lies about me and my government,” said Mr Chouhan, while addressing a roadside meeting from his chariot.

The chief minister is scheduled to address more than 700 roadside meetings and over 500 road shows during the yatra.

Mr Chouhan’s yatra covered three districts, Ujjain, Ratlam and Dhar in the first phase. The second phase of his campaign began in Maiyar, the abode of local presiding deity Maa Sharada, in Bhind district on July 18.

“The state has been divided into two parts for coverage of the ‘Jan Ashirvad Yatra’ which is planned in such a way that Mr Chouhan will cover different regions simultaneously with the help of two chariots,” said BJP spokesman Rajnish Agrawal.

The chief minister is scheduled to address at least one huge public meeting in 224 constituencies and several roadside meetings from his chariot for which strategic places have already been identified along the route of his journey.

The yatra, which is scheduled to end on September 25 and coincide with the birth anniversary of BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, will serve twin-purposes.

Firstly, it will strengthen the connect between the chief minister and the electorates when Mr Chouhan wades through the streets greeting people and attracting reciprocating gestures from them, besides giving them the accounts of his government’s performances.

Secondly, it will help in mobilisation of party cadres and leaders who have been entrusted various responsibilities to make the crucial event successful in their respective areas ahead of the year-end polls.

In 2013 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 166 seats in the 230-member Assembly. The Congress won 57, the BSP got four, apart from three independents.

A BJP leader said the chief minister’s yatra will focus on three things -  “mood, media, mahol”.

The attempt is to create a pro-establishment mood among people, ensure extensive coverage in media and generate a feel-good factor among people, he said.

The youth, women and other wings of the party, including the IT cell, will function in a coordinated manner to ensure success of the event, a strategist of the event told this newspaper.

“We are getting enthusiastic responses from people to the event. While male members greet the chief minister by waving their hands, women members shower flower petals on him from roof tops. Even children are coming forward to wave and greet the chief minister,” Mr Agrawal claimed.

The response from people clearly indicats that Mr Chouhan still enjoys the confidence of the people, he added.

The BJP hopes that Mr Chouhan’s poll journey would harvest goodwill for the party in the year-end polls helping it retain power in the state for fourth time in a row. This, in a way, will also set the momentum for the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

“By the end of the yatra, BJP will be assured of getting 200 out of total 230 seats in the year-end assembly polls,” BJP national president Amit Shah had said while kicking off the yatra.

The Congress, however, has alleged that the BJP is misusing government machinery to make its campaign a success.

“Local administrations have been directed unofficially to arrange people for the chief minister’s meetings,” Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Ajey Singh alleged.

He claimed that his party’s “Jan Jagaran Yatra” would expose various omissions and commissions in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and, thus, negate the impact of Mr Chouhan’s campaign.

“The ‘Jan Jagaran Yatra’ of the Congress is being led by second rung leaders of the party such as Jitu Patwari, Ramnivas Rawat, Surendra Choudhury and Bala Bachhan, indicating lack of seriousness on the part of the party in the campaign. Besides, this has demonstrated that the Congress has no mass leader to match Mr Chouhan’s charisma,” Mr Agrawal said.