While the BSP is generally believed to play a spoiler for the Congress by eating into its Dalit votebank, its new social engineering formula could hurt the BJP as well. In Gwalior-Chambal region, for instance, the BSP has fielded a number of Brahmin candidates.

On the other hand, the BSP is likely to eat into the Congress’s Muslim votebank. While the Congress has not fielded a Muslim candidate on any of the nine seats in Indore — where Muslims constitute about 15 per cent of the population — the BSP has fielded Iftikhar Munna Ansari from Indore III. And this seems to have struck a chord.

“Neither the Congress nor the BJP has fielded any Muslim candidate in Indore. How will they understand the Muslim problems then? Why can’t we see a third party like the BSP?” says Aziz Indori from Indore IV.

The BJP has been focusing on development, with the party’s advertisements comparing the first 50 years in the state with the five years of the BJP regime: 16 per cent interest rate on debts of farmers reduced to 5 per cent; 40,000 km of roads built since 2003 compared to 11,011 in the 10 years of Congress before that; over 6,000 MW power generation now against less than 3,000 MW earlier.

The BJP has also been trying to whip up public sentiments over the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and highlighting the UPA Government’s “dismal” performance on the terror front.

The Congress, on the other hand, has been harping on corruption issues involving ministers. It’s only intermittently that some central party leaders have talked about terror with alleged links to Sangh Parivar outfits.

... contd.