 "Digvijaya Singh")
About 82-km from capital city Bhopal, Rajgarh is an ancient town in Madhya Pradesh, pinned close to the state’s border with Rajasthan.
Mercury in this quaint district, known for its lakes and dilapidated palaces, is now rising, slowly and steadily. Not just because of the onset of summer, but also due to the upcoming elections as votes will be cast in the third phase on May 7 here.
And this time, BJP’s sitting MP Rodmal Nagar is facing a tough challenge -- from an old war horse of Congress.
Despite the heat, Digvijaya Singh is feeling at home in Rajgarh. And why not, it’s his home turf from where he started his political journey.
And he wants to end it here.
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Now 77, Singh is asserting that it will be his last election before his hangs his boots.
He was president of the Raghogarh Nagar Palika between 1969 and 1971. And in 1977, he was, for the first time, elected to the state assembly from here, on a Congress ticket. His father too had won this seat in 1951.
He went to Parliament twice from this constituency, first in 1984 and later in 1991.
Life has certainly come full circle for the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister.
But there are challenges. Five years back, Singh lost to Pragya Thakur from Bhopal.
BJP’s Nagar, who counts former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan among his backers, is from the OBC (Other Backward Class) Kirar community, which is spread across central India.
While Nagar, looking at a third successive win, is a formidable opponent, Singh is trying to remind the electorate of their ties with his family, the rulers of the erstwhile Raghogarh principality.
“My forefathers contributed immensely and were instrumental in the development of this region. This is my last election; hence, I need people’s support and blessing to achieve and ensure victory,” Singh said while addressing a rally in the region.
Singh first won from Rajgarh in 1984.
His brother, Lakshman Singh, won the seat on five occasions, beginning with a by-poll in 1994 until 2004, four times as a Congress candidate and in 2004 as a BJP one.
Digvijaya’s son, Jaivardhan, is a legislator from the Raghogarh Assembly seat, which falls within the Rajgarh LS constituency.
Intensifying the caste politics against Nagar, Singh has blamed the ruling party for ignoring the Sondhiya community, another OBC group spread across border areas of MP.
