chief ministerial candidate. Instead, the party has fielded the three heavyweights in the state in various capacities to take on the might of the BJP.

The BJP, on its part, is not banking on Chouhan this time to deliver the goods. Sensing a strong anti-incumbency sentiment against the sitting chief minister, BJP president Amit Shah told party workers on May 4 in Bhopal that the next election in MP would be fought by the organisation.

The battle lines are already drawn in this three versus one contest, even though the assembly polls are five months away. The Congress troika has got down to the urgent business of reviving the moribund Congress organisation. Their main rival, the Chief Minister, too has got into full election mode, showering bonanzas on different sectionsof the voters with an eye on the upcoming elections. The pivot of Congress’s strategy revolves around tapping into the accumulated public anger against the 15-year rule of the BJP. Chouhan, on the other hand, is relying on government resources, the party’s formidable organisational network in the state and the heft of its electoral muscle under Shah.

Neither the Congress nor the chief minister is leaving anything to chance in pursuit of their goal. After being out of power for 15 years, it is a do-or-die battle for the Congress in the state. The BJP is also acutely conscious of the fact that defeat in three states—MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan—could sound the death knell for the party’s dream to recapture Delhi in the 2019 parliamentary election.

In the run-up to