The native versus outsider poll narrative is playing out in Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, where polling will be held on May 6.
The Congress candidate is a surprise choice – Kavita Singh from the royal family of Chhattarpur.
Known as Rani Sahiba, she is also the wife of four-time MLA Vikara Singh Natiraja.
Natiraja, who first won on a Samajawadi Party (SP) ticket in 2003 as a legislator from Chhattarpur assembly constituency, has sizeable influence in Khajuraho.
He had then hung a bicycle, the SP's election symbol, near his Congress rival's home.
In the 10 Lok Sabha elections between 1980 and 2014, the Congress could win Khajuraho only thrice.
In 1980 and 1984, Vidhyavati Chaturvedi and in 1989 her son Satyavrat Chaturvedi won from this seat. For four consecutive terms from 1989 to 1998, Uma Bharti of the Bharataiya Janata Party (BJP) won.
The Lok Sabha seat has the tradition of sending a local candidate to the Parliament.
“I am a local candidate here. I am the ‘bahu’ of Chhattarpur and ‘Beti’ of Panna,” Kavitha played her cards to media persons at Gunnor. .
With her sari-pallu covering her head, in villages and in towns, Kavita is warmly received. She doesn't forget to often touch the feet of elderly Brahmins as a mark of respect.
In a way to cut the influence of royal family, the BJP has served the ticket to an outsider.
However, ever since BJP organisational secretary and RSS nominee Vishnu Dutt Sharma’s candidature was announced, protests have been witnessed in Katni, Chattarpur and Panna districts, where assembly segments of the Khajuraho seat are spread.
Sharma is a native of Morena district in the State.
Of the eight assembly segments in the LS seat, three are in Panna and Katni districts, while two other assembly segments are in Chhattarpur district.
Senior BJP leaders acknowledged anger among grass-root workers of the party for giving ticket to an outsider.
“I am hurt by the process of selection of candidate by party. I am giving up responsibility of all posts and positions assigned to me by the party organisation,” a former legislator from Murwara said in his letter to state party chief Rakesh Singh.
Sharma had to spend a lot of his energy for silencing the outsider campaign against him.
“There is no groupism and the entire party is supporting me,” Sharma said.
He also claimed the support of Brahimins.
The BJP candidate is telling the people to vote for fixing the issues including lack of potable water by casting a vote in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But loyalties remain an issue to the BJP's ambitions.
“We can never let down Maharani Sahiba and the royal family members. They have done a lot for the people of Khajuraho,” Brijbihari Shukla of Ganj village said.
There are 18,42,095 in the constituency, which includes 57,974 new voters.
