In politics no matter how sincere you sound you dont always practice what you preach,more so when elections are around the corner.
A votary of electoral reforms,Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan always insists that frequent elections are a drain on the exchequer and advocates that the Lok Sabha and assemblies should have fixed tenures and simultaneous elections held after every five years.
And yet he has chosen to contest from Budhni and Vidisha constituencies,one of which he will have to vacate in the event of winning both,necessitating a by-election,winning which will be a prestige issue for the ruling party,and,therefore,a drain on the exchequer.
So conscientious is Chouhan that three years ago he made a case for abolishing the Rajya Sabha alleging that legislators are openly traded by those with money power to get into the Upper House,a comment he quickly retracted when his own party snubbed him. He also argues for state funding of elections to prevent black money from getting into the system.
But when it came to formulating strategy for winning the crucial Vidisha constituency,represented by former Finance Minister Raghavji who was sacked after a sodomy scandal,the Chief Minister decided to play ball.
Even at the cost of exposing himself to the charge that he was scared about losing Budhni and looked for a risk free constituency,Chouhan has allowed himself to be persuaded by the party,especially Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj,who represents Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency.
Your wish does not matter. There is no scope for turning down the proposal, Swaraj told him indulgently before the media. For the record,the party claimed the proposal had been floated by voters in Vidisha who wanted Chouhan to contest because he had represented them in the Lok Sabha in past.
As if that was not enough,Chouhan compared himself to Krishna who is asked to choose between two mothers.
With no justification to offer,the party said the media was free to interpret the last-minute surprise. What the party did not admit was it did not want to lose voters to anybody else because despite the scandal Raghavji was bent on wangling a ticket either for his daughter or one of his supporters.
The veteran wields a clout in Vidhsha,part of the Lok Sabha constituency,a BJP pocket borough once represented by Atal Behari Vajpayee. Raghavjis threat of sabotage could be nullified only by Chouhans strategic candidature.
Milind is a senior assistant editor based in Bhopal milind.ghatwai@expressindia.com
