Digvijay on hat trick

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh is seeking re-election as Chief Minister for the third consecutive term as the state goes to polls on December 1, 2003. If he manages to lead the Congress party to victory it will be a record of sorts for Mr Singh.

Braving all odds, Digvijay has managed to lead his party to victory in the state during the 1993 and 1998 elections- a fete no other leader from any political outfit could achieve in Madhya Pradesh. Apart from the wily politician, Arjun Singh, who had managed to win two consecutive elections from the state no other leader had managed to do so. But, Arjun's second term was cut short as he was appointed as Governor to Punjab, the very next day he took over as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for the second term.

Thus, Digvijay is the only chief minister who will be completing successive eight years in office. Digvijay's success goes to his meticulous planning and striking an instant cord with the electorate which makes him special in the Congress. His two victories have come across when the Congress was in a turbulent phase with the resignation of the senior leaders and the successive electoral battering it was receiving in the north. Secondly, he defied the anti-incumbency wave and won in 1998 when every political observer and analyst had written him off.

Besides, Arjun Singh, senior leader Shyama Charan Shukla was chief minister of the state for three terms namely between March 26, 1969 to January 28, 1972, December 23, 1975 to April 30, 1977 and December 9, 1989 to March 1, 1990.