TWO LEADERS AND AN ELECTION

Two years is a long time in politics and so in Madhya Pradesh two personalities, pitted against each other in the 2018 assembly election, now find themselves working together. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the BJP back then had Jyotiraditya Scindia firmly in their crosshairs; indeed, the BJP campaign in 2018 revolved around Scindia’s princely legacy (read: arrogant) versus Chouhan’s (read: down-to-earth) image. ‘’ was the BJP’s campaign couplet then, but today the ‘Maharaj’ and ‘Mama’ are twin faces of the BJP campaign for byelections in 28 assembly segments. How does the BJP plan to bring these two contrasting political personalities together on the election stage? More importantly, what will a decisive win/ loss for the BJP signal