Shivraj Singh Chauhan gets a foot massage after walking 4 km while campaigning in Budhini on Tuesday. Picture by Raj Patidar

Budhini (Madhya Pradesh), April 25: The heat is scorching, some 40 degrees Celsius. Even the foolhardy would think twice before venturing out at noon in a car, forget about walking it. Not so Shivraj Singh Chauhan.

Accompanied by a small band of 10-12 loyalists, the Madhya Pradesh chief minister can be seen trudging the roads on foot, passing the hat around for votes. He will carry on for a week, covering about 163 km.

There are no hi-tech campaign toys with him, no loudspeakers, no wheels, no posters and banners, nothing that will alert the Election Commission. Nor is he distributing little gifts or doling out money.

The only luxury he has allowed himself is a masseur, to massage away the aches and pains from his feet after a day out in the sun.

And no, he does not have an AC rath that ferries L.K. Advani on his yatras to keep out prying eyes ? he simply lies flat on his back under a tree and lets the masseur work his magic.

That’s his way of getting back at the poll panel, which put off the Budhini bypoll on charges that he was violating the model code of conduct. No matter if it raises a laugh, at least the poll daddies will not be able to point a finger.

The bypoll, which Chauhan has to win to cling on to his crown, was put off from April 24 to May 3 after the Congress complained the BJP was misusing official machinery and running a hi-tech campaign through 20 ministers camping in Budhini.

Uma Bharti, too, had stoked the fire, saying Chauhan was wooing voters with power round the clock, though every other place in the state had seven-eight hour disruptions in supply.

Along with his new poll avatar, Chauhan has also adopted a new style of campaigning. No longer is he harping on development, but on the power cuts that the Congress has brought upon Budhini.

He has been trying to convince the people that Congress’s Digvijay Singh and Jamuna Devi had done a Kaikeyi and Manthara on them. As the queen-chambermaid duo had schemed against Ram and had him exiled in the Ramayana, the leaders had cheated the people out of a 24-hour power supply.

With Chauhan turning the power tables, the Congress is in a bit of a bind. Initially jubilant after the bypoll was postponed, party nominee Raj Kumar Patel had taken the credit for queering Chauhan’s pitch.

But he has begun to worry about his chances because the people seem to be holding him responsible for the return of power cuts to Budhini. Patel is now busy distancing himself from the Election Commission’s order.

Uma, too, has left Budhini after her nominee and regional Gondwana Gantantra Party candidate Gulzar Singh Markam appeared to have slipped to third spot.

Markam’s public meetings are failing to pull the crowds and most Uma supporters have given up campaigning for him.

Winning the bypoll is crucial for Chauhan because he took over as chief minister in November 2005 and has to get elected to the Assembly within six months. He is the Lok Sabha MP from Vidisha.