No Flags, No Festoons, No Banners: From Bhopal To Chhindwara 바카라�Polling Mood바카라� Missing In Madhya Pradesh

On a sunny Monday morning, around 8 am, Bhopal is yet to get ready for the usual hustles of city life. Shops are still closed. Inside the massive lake that adorns Bhopal바카라�s landscape, Raja Bhoj 바카라� known as the founder of Madhya Pradesh 바카라� stands alone without many visitors. Amidst this silence, 3 kilometres away from the airport, Sonu is busy making Poha and serving breakfast to those who don바카라�t have the comfort of 바카라�being late바카라�.

But this is not a usual Monday. It is election time.

While most of the state capitals in the country have already stepped into the electoral mood with flags and banners hanging here and there, Bhopal plays a different symphony. Serving extra chutney to a topi-clad man, who skipped fasting due to his health, Sonu says, 바카라�This time it is dull. You will not find much in Bhopal.바카라� Immediately, his co-worker intervenes, 바카라�Polls in Bhopal are on May 7. Still, there is time.바카라�

As one passes by the lake and moves towards the new market area, just a few kilometres away from the headquarters of both the BJP and the Congress, the only 바카라�political바카라� billboard is visible that reads 바카라� 바카라�Vote Dega Bhopal바카라�. 바카라�It is a part of Election Commission바카라�s electoral awareness campaign,바카라� comments a passer-by. But why is this silence? Is it a done-and-dusted contest?

Pointing out the dullness and lack of enthusiasm in Bhopal, senior journalist Shahroz Afridi says, 바카라�For the last ten years if you observe the performance of BJP, you can see there is hardly any Opposition left. In 2014 and 2019, the ruling party got the majority of the seats and thus, the whole electoral season in Bhopal is dull and stagnant.바카라� While BJP won 27 out of 29 seats in 2014, they increased their tally to 28 in 2019.

A few months back, in the assembly elections, the Congress was decimated across the state and the BJP, under the leadership of former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, got an unprecedented 166 seats. Perhaps, that is one of the major reasons for both, the confidence of the ruling party and the lack of aspirations among the Opposition, says an analyst.

Talking about the lack of enthusiasm among the workers, a senior Congress leader says, 바카라�The party won the assembly elections in 2018 and then the government fell. In 2023, they tried to reclaim what they lost and again, it failed. So, it becomes really difficult for the workers to be charged up again.바카라�

However, Mukesh Nayek, the national spokesperson of Congress and former minister of the MP government, thinks that such silence would actually benefit the party. 바카라�This silence will favour us. BJP is overconfident and thus they are not campaigning and Congress doesn바카라�t have money, so the silence is inevitable,바카라� says Nayek. The BJP workers, nevertheless, think that the campaign in Bhopal will kickstart in late April as the poll day comes closer.

While the 바카라�new city바카라� of Bhopal is even silent about the electoral agenda except for reiterating the slogans of 바카라�400 par바카라� and 바카라�Mission 29바카라� (Chouhan바카라�s promise to get 29 out of 29 seats), the old city 바카라� dominated by Muslims 바카라� is bustling on a Ramzan evening. 바카라�For the last three decades, they have made Bhopal their bastion. But they don바카라�t care about us. Our MP Sadhvi Pragya never even came to meet us once.바카라� Notably, this time BJP has dropped the name of Sadhvi Pragya and nominated Alok Sharma, the former mayor of the city as its candidate.

바카라�Still, nothing matters here. For the last 35 years, BJP has held this seat. So, it can rarely be termed as a contest,바카라� says Altamas Jalal, a Bhopal-based senior journalist. Interestingly, the legends of the city portray it both as a 바카라�lazy바카라� and 바카라�comfortable바카라� city where everybody comes back, he adds.

People say that when Aurungzeb was passing through this city to reach the Deccan, he asked his soldier to pack and leave immediately. 바카라�Otherwise, he would never be able to 바카라�leave바카라�!바카라�, says Afridi. Whether this comfort has settled the political dust down on the banks of the Narmada, though is not clear, Rittik, a cab driver from Ujjain expresses his shock. 바카라�I have never seen the city like this. Even last year, so many posters and placards were there,바카라� says Rittik who roams around the state for most of the time of year.

Although the absence of placards, posters, flags and festoons of political parties may leave one to contemplate the reasons, there is no dearth of 바카라�Jai Shree Ram바카라� flags. In every other house, one can see the flags tied to the polls of the roofs or the window panes.

This is, nonetheless, not a scenario only in Bhopal. Around 300 kilometres away from the capital city, as one reaches Kamal Nath바카라�s bastion Chhindwara, this is the only visible flag. Even in the interiors of the villages where BJP and Congress flags couldn바카라�t get a space, the Ram flag is waving high.

In Dhanoura village 바카라� around 80 kilometres away from Chhindwara city, most of the village houses have these flags. Does it somehow symbolise the BJP바카라�s dominance in this area? Ravinder Kumar Dahariya, in his early 20s, says, 바카라�Not at all. It is a matter of religion and it shouldn바카라�t be mixed with politics. This is Kamal Nath바카라�s bastion and nobody could challenge it.바카라�

Dhanoura comes under the Amarwada assembly constituency where the Congress MLA Kamalesh Shah has recently jumped the boat and joined the BJP. Some BJP leaders have claimed that 72 sarpanch of Amarwada have also joined the party. However, Ram Mandir has nothing to do with their support for BJP, say a few villagers. 바카라�The day Ram Mandir was consecrated; we bought these flags and have put it on our own. Neither anybody forced us, nor anybody asked us to do so,바카라� says Dahariya, a staunch Nath supporter and apparently a Congress cadre.

A few kilometres away in another village namely Hirri, people say that they would continue voting for the BJP as they have been doing for decades. 바카라�It is not about Ram Mandir or the 바카라�Jai Shree Ram바카라� flags, our ancestors were also BJP voters. 80% of the population in the village vote for the party,바카라� says a village senior.

Though these interior villages have sprinkles of electoral mood with some flags and tabloids visible 바카라� the city of Chhindwara is as silent as Bhopal. This constituency 바카라� a prestige battle for former Congress CM and senior leader Kamal Nath is going to polls on April 19. This time Nath바카라�s son, Nakul is fighting for his second stint against BJP바카라�s Vivek 바카라�Bunty바카라� Sahu.

The journey from Bhopal to Chhindwara through Beitul somehow gives a perception that Madhya Pradesh is not yet ready for another poll within such a short time. But nothing is short in politics. The rank and files of the BJP are now camping in Chhindwara. 바카라�We cannot lose a single seat this time,바카라� says a senior district leader of BJP. On the other hand, faintly the voice of a senior Congress leader, far away in Bhopal, kicks in, 바카라�We will wait till the end.바카라�