Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh; Campaign trail; Nov 24.
7:30 am: Digvijay Singh opens the door of his room in the circuit house in Mandsaur, ready to start another day of campaigning. A group of Congressmen greet him with garlands of marigold. It’s Monday, the day of Lord Shiva. Hence, Digvijay’s first destination is the temple of Pashupati.
8:10 am: Breakfast at the residence of a former Congress MLA.
The CM helps himself to rotis, dal, a lot of ‘sev bhujia’, papaya, halwa for dessert, washed down with a strange concoction extracted from boiled ‘belpattis’ (leaves of the wood apple tree). ‘‘This brew is for health, wealth and happiness,’’ he explains.
8:50 am: After a short meeting with party workers, his jeep followed by Congress cars, speeds towards the helipad. The CM gets into a small four-seater chopper. Checks his schedule of public meetings, covering 470 aero-nautical miles in five districts.
For the next one hour, he reads the papers, glances through a magazine and then takes a nap.
10:00 am: Party workers greet the CM at Haat Pipaliya in Dewas district. Digvijay delivers first speech of the day, ‘‘Netas make promises and forget them. But our’s is a government that has fulfilled its promises. We promised free electricity to small farmers, we gave it,’’ he said.
‘‘We said we will allot land to Dalits, tribals and poor people in urban slums, and fulfilled our promise. We said we’ll introduce village courts and we did. We held panchayat elections at every level, implemented 27 per cent reservation for OBCs and ensured quota for women at the panchayat level.’’ He then takes on the BJP, saying it had fulfilled none of its promises.
11:15 am: Next speech at Satwas. ‘‘Uma Bharti called me a rakshas (demon). Do I look like one? She called me Raavan. Have I kidnapped anybody’s Sita? She told Union minister Vikram Verma that his head was full of rubbish,’’ he alleged. ‘‘A woman who speaks such language cannot be responsible enough to govern a state of six crore people.’’
4:00 pm: On the way to Karhal in Seopur district, the CM feels the need for some nourishment. He nibbles on a handful of peanuts and swallows a pill for his sore throat. At Vijaypur, he challenges the BJP to prove corruption charges against him.
5:30 pm: Digvijay is thrilled after addressing the public meeting here. He is sure the Congress will beat rivals hands down. Dusk falls and the CM travels by road sitting beside the driver’s seat. After nine public meetings and equal number of election briefings, he dozes off in the car.
9:55 pm: The CM is mobbed at Sumawali when he promises revenge against BJP for the treatment meted out to Mayaw-ati. Sumawali has a predominant Dalit population.
9:45 pm: Decides to visit Laxmi Narayan temple, but the gates are shut. Addresses two meetings, asks party workers to come out in large numbers for Sonia Gandhi’s rally on Tuesday.
12:00 midnight: Still addressing party workers. Will halt for the night at the circuit house.