Madhya Pradesh | On a shaky wicket

Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s battle lies both within and outside his party as he strives to overcome the anti-incumbency of 16 years

Chouhan in Delhi for a BJP central committee meeting, Sept. 13; (Photo: Chandradeep Kumar)

“Aisa bhaiyya nahin milega. Jab main chala jaunga, to bahut yaad aaunga (You won’t find a bro­ther like me. You will miss me a lot when I am gone),” Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told a group of women beneficiaries in Ladkui village in Budhni constituency, a seat he represents, on October 1. Two days later, at an outreach programme in Sehore, Chouhan asked the assembled gathering: “Should we fight the election or not?”