Battling the palace feud

Campaign poster for Congress candidate Shambu Singh: Digvijay Singh ka kehna hai, hath ke panje ka button dabana hai, Rajgarh ko aage badhana hai, Shambhu Singh ko jitana hai.

Digvijay Singh could not have worked harder if he was the candidate himself. His election speeches are emotional. Gone is the talk about Panchayati Raj and primary education: 8216;8216;An injustice has been done to me. For 10 years when we were in power, my brother was with me. He enjoyed the fruits of power. If he was worried about winning again, let me tell you I would have ensured his victory from this seat. If I can ensure Shambu Singh8217;s victory, couldn8217;t I have done the same for my brother. In the Ramayana, Laxman stood by his brother for 14 years in exile. After losing power, this Kaliyugi Laxman did not stand by his elder brother even for 14 days.8217;8217;

Subhash Yadav is chief of the state Congress unit and an old foe of Digvijay Singh. In a television interview, he said: 8216;8216;Shambu Singh is Digvijay8217;s candidate, handpicked by him. Digvijay8217;s political future, his political credibility, is at stake in Rajgarh.8217;8217;

A reporter in Raghogarh says: 8216;8216;Recently, after Digvijay was done with his emotional pitch in Vijaypur village, someone from the audience spoke up 8212; 8216;Rehne do Raja, tumhi ne to apne bhai ko khada karaya hai8217;. Digvijay caught hold of him by the arm and took him to the village temple where he swore the allegation was not true.8217;8217;

Rubina Singh is the woman Laxman Singh married after the death of his first wife. Digvijay Singh gave voice to the widely held belief crediting her with Laxman Singh8217;s switch to the BJP, when he said the Page 3 people were responsible. Laxman Singh shies away from discussing his elder bother. She doesn8217;t: 8216;8216;We hardly go out and Laxman is not very sociable. It is sad my brother-in-law resents the fact that his brother has any kind of a social life. Laxman has left the party, not the family. My brother-in-law should not take it so personally. Digvijay Singh is only a very small part of the Congress, why should he think Laxman8217;s defeat is very important to his political career, when he has decided that he has no political career for the next 10 years?8221;

8216;8216;I have the greatest respect for my brother-in-law and I feel really sad at the way the Congress party has treated him after the loss in the Assembly elections. He has done so much good work only to be treated so shabbily by the High Command. It is so pathetic. In the BJP, win or lose, he would have been the all-India president. Sonia Gandhi and her family treat people so shabbily. Laxman felt uncomfortable with the party, as he felt he had more enemies within the party than outside. When he was deciding his course of action, I kept quiet.8221;

8216;8216;I come from a family close to the BJP, growing up my father was a great admirer of the RSS, but I never influenced Laxman. My brother-in-law knows this, so it is sad he should pin the responsibility on me.8221;

In 1994, Jamini Bai of Chuadkiya village was raped, her husband stripped naked and paraded before being murdered in the heart of the village. On October 19, Uma Bharti called her up on stage to meet the Prime Minister at a rally in Bhopal. According to Uma Bharti, Jamini Bai and thousands like her would live like queens when the BJP came to power: The men who did this were Congressis. They had the backing of Laxman Singh, so they also had the backing of Digvijay. Which is why neither of them have ever come to the village after the incident. One of those sentenced is out of jail, and is now canvassing for the Congress.

8216;8216;The news about Laxman contesting on the BJP ticket reached me far too late, otherwise I would have run to meet Uma Bharti. She could not have done this, this ticket was given to Laxman Singh by Advani. Everyone is unhappy with his candidature, how can I be happy? But what is the choice for me? Maybe in the end we will all vote for the phool the BJP symbol, not for Laxman Singh.8217;8217;

And then, there are those like Gopal who runs a dhaba just outside Rajgarh town: 8216;8216;What is the choice for us. Many of the phool supporters are very unhappy. They can8217;t bring themselves to vote for the Congress, they can8217;t bring themselves to vote for Laxman Singh. Many will stay at home as many of the party functionaries have done during the campaign. One of them was contesting for the seat, but stood down at the last minute. But there is no point backing the other side. After all, they are the same. Unless the BJP voters stay home, Laxman Singh should win, but what does that mean for us?8217;8217;