The maverick legislator has since been suspended by his party. But that has not silenced him. On the contrary, the Lanji MLA continues to embarrass the Congress even as the investigating agencies try to establish the veracity of his allegations.

Congress MLA Premchand Guddu on his part has accused the ruling BJP of trying to prevent him from voting, as the Economic Offences Wing of the state police has asked him to remain present at its Indore office on voting day. The Indore MLA has also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission.

Meanwhile, Uma Bharati has asked her four Bharatiya Janashakti Party MLAs to vote in

favour of BJP candidate Raghunandan Sharma. Sharma was state unit president of her party till he decided to return to the BJP.

The election has further cemented the rift within the Samajwadi Party and the Gondwana Gantantra Party. Though whips have been issued, rebels in these parties are contesting the very authority to issue the whip. The BSP and the Samanta Dal have two MLAs each while the Nationalist Congress Party and the CPI (M) have one member each in the 230-seat Assembly.

Despite all these whips, all parties were in a huddle on the eve of the election, unsure how their members would vote on Friday. Their tension can be gauged from the fact that the parties were training MLAs to vote properly to avoid invalid votes.