The narrow loss in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls is still fresh in the mind of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who, everytime he holds the election mike, says people long for their "mama" and farmers' "curse" will ruin the Congress.
At Kolaras village in Guna constituency, Chouhan tells people about a visit of Congress leaders to his home in Bhopal where they showed him voluminous data to prove that loans of 21 lakh farmers, up to Rs 2 lakh, were waived. But, he adds, those documents did not support their claim.
"You would have seen photographs in the media... I courteously offered them water and a place to sit. What they had brought was not a bank list but a record of the agriculture department.
"Who is Kamal Nath fooling? The total loan amount is Rs 48,000 crore and they have till now given only Rs 1,300 crore to banks. If you are not paying the amount to banks how can you say that the loans of the poor farmers have been waived?" Chouhan said at the rally on Wednesday.
Shivpuri and Ashok Nagar districts form part of Guna constituency.
He said everywhere he goes, he witnesses farmers in queues outside 'mandis' to sell their produce but only those willing to pay bribe are allowed to.
"Farmers are saying 'mama' please come back and help us. Everytime there is a power cut, people say 'mama' where are you, help us," said Chouhan, an MLA from Budhni.
People are missing their "mama", he adds, using a moniker he himself touts in public meetings.
"I want to tell CM Kamal Nath Don't show me the list, understand and solve the problems of farmers else their curse will destroy you. No one can escape their wrath," the 60-year-old BJP vice president leader said.
"Kisan ki haay tumhe barbaad kar degi."
At his public meetings, Chouhan reminds farmers the cash support system he provided for agricultural produce like pulses, wheat, soyabean, grams, rice and wheat, alleging the new government in Bhopal has failed on these fronts.
The former CM is a "star campaigner" of the BJP as he has accompanied almost every party candidate during filing of their nomination papers. He has also held roadshows and rallies for them, including in Congress strongholds of Chhindwara and Guna.
At his next stop in Mungaoli village, Chouhan assures people he is with them like a "rock" and he will fight for their rights tooth and nail.
"Do not worry. Shivraj is not going anywhere. Not Delhi. I will stay here and keep taking the state government to task," he said.
"Tiger abhi zindaa hai," he said, borrowing a popular dialogue from a blockbuster Hindi movie which had espionage and spy games as its plot.
At most rallies and meetings, Chouhan urges voters to favour the local BJP candidate to ensure Narendra Modi returns as prime minister.
"You have to ensure that Modi becomes PM again and hence your contribution is very important," he said.
He talks about Modi's strong image, his strong retaliation to Pakistan after the Feb attack in Pulwama in Kashmir in which 40 CRPF soldiers died and the prime minister's "corruption-free" image.
"Khoon ka badla khoon," he said, explaining the BJP-led central government's policy of revenge for terror attacks emanating from Pakistan.
A few years ago, when Pakistani troops beheaded Army jawan Sudhakar Singh of Sidhi district and "played football with his head", the then UPA government did nothing, he claimed.
"We had to cremate the mortal remains of the jawan with only his torso," Chouhan said as he invoked BJP's main plank of nationalism in these elections.
He also charged the Congress with having corruption in their "blood and DNA" and alleged the opposition party gave "birth to and encouraged" the banned terror group SIMI in Madhya Pradesh.
"I ensured SIMI men who escaped from Bhopal jail (in 2016) were neutralised within a 4-km radius," he said.
The BJP leader also mentioned the recent Income Tax Department raids on people linked to CM Nath, saying corrupt people were getting richer since the Congress took charge of the state in December.
A senior BJP leader said Chouhan is holding 10-11 meetings every day and a jet has been set aside for him to undertake election tours.
A good number of candidates who were either repeated or dropped by the party had his approval. Chouhan is the biggest leader of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh who can pull the entire state together, he said.
His reputation is also at stake for repeating the 2014 performance in MP where BJP won 27 seats out of 29, he added. The Congress later won the Ratlam seat in a bypoll.
The former CM's plans have been prepared keeping in mind the four phases of polls in the state. At times, when there is a big rally of either PM Modi or BJP president Amit Shah only then his plans are tweaked, a close aide in Chouhan's team told PTI.
While two phases of elections are over, the state will next see voting on May 12 and 19.
The Congress, which was out of power in the state since 2003 managed to unseat the Chouhan government in assembly polls in November last year, winning 114 seats while the BJP secured 109.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)