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National
Sadhna Singh campaigns for her husband Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and BJP candidate, in Budhni constituency on Wednesday. BUDHNI (M.P.): She has taken on the mantle of chief campaigner for her husband in this Assembly constituency which, along with 229 other seats, is slated to go to the polls on November 27. With hardly a week remaining, she is leaving no stone unturned in her efforts to forge bonds with the 1.69 lakh electors spread over 370 villages and three town panchayats. But she is no ordinary woman and her husband is no ordinary legislator, seeking re-election from Budhni. It happens to be Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s secure seat and his responsibility is being ably shouldered by his wife Sadhna Singh, who has endeared herself to the people and party workers alike, who fondly address her as “Bhabhiji.” “Our people have told me that there is no need for the Chief Minister to come here and campaign. They have assured me of their wholehearted support and want my husband to concentrate his efforts on other Assembly constituencies in the State,” she tells The Hindu on Wednesday in this small town, about 70 km. from Bhopal. As the first winter showers lash Budhni and adjoining areas, Mrs. Singh gets delayed in Bhopal by a few hours but once she reaches the party office here, there is no looking back. With her sister and a few other women in tow, she heads for Budhni Ghat, a locality near the Narmada, and distributes voter slips to the electors, requesting them to turn up in good numbers on the day of the polling and re-elect her husband. “I want my husband to win by a greater margin this year. People here and across the State have seen his tireless efforts for development…building roads, hospitals, schools and introducing a number of schemes. They know everything and treat me fondly as their own daughter-in-law. In fact, I am overwhelmed by the love and affection which I have received from them,” she says. Mrs. Singh is no stranger to politics. She has been an active campaigner during Mr. Chauhan’s elections in the past from the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat, which he has represented since the late 1990s. And after filing his nomination in Sehore, Mr. Chauhan has not visited Budhni once, relying solely on his wife’s campaigning. Asked what advice she would give to the Chief Minister after the elections, Mrs. Singh said she would urge him to complete the developmental schemes he could not take up during this tenure. “I cover nearly 15 to 16 villages in a day but make sure to return home to Bhopal even if it gets late,” she says, as their two school-going sons also need her attention. The former MLA from Budhni, Rajendra Singh Rajput, his wife, and other party workers also chip in with their efforts, telling her which villages to visit and which groups to address. The Congress has fielded Mahesh Singh Rajput from Budhni, but from all indications, Mr. Chauhan faces no opposition. The Chief Minister has emerged as a low-key politician over the past three years, who has his feet firmly on the ground. “Mr. Chauhan has been given the responsibility of the entire State by the party and he has only one slogan – to speed up all-round development,” says Randhir Singh Chaudhary, a BJP worker who dismisses allegations of high-handedness and corruption against State Ministers.
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