In what could be bad news for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chhattisgarh, tainted but influential leader Dilip Singh Judeo has decided not to campaign during the crucial civic polls next month.
"I will not campaign due to personal engagements. There are several bigwigs in the state unit to handle the job with perfection," Judeo told IANS from his erstwhile princely estate of Jashpur.
Judeo, who was caught on camera last year accepting cash allegedly in return for granting mining rights to a company, has considerable clout among Hindu hardliners and tribals for his violent opposition to conversions of Hindus.
Once the party's favourite for the chief minister's post in the assembly polls in December, Judeo was sidelined due to the scam.
But he has always enjoyed strong support from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and other Hindu hardline groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
Judeo's decision to stay away from campaigning from the state's maiden two-phase civic bodies polls Dec 20 and 23 has brought BJP's intra-party rivalry in the state to the fore.
"His absence will have a definite effect on our chances; we have sent feelers to persuade him to change his mind," said a BJP leader.
The party is striving hard to sweep the civic polls, which will be the first referendum on the Raman Singh-led 11-month-old BJP government.
Judeo is probably the lone BJP leader in the state having a grassroots base. He proved to be a crowd puller in the assembly polls.
Raman Singh appeared unaware of Judeo's plans.
"Judeo is a senior leader and has a major support base. From whatever inputs I have, he will actively campaign for the party," he said.
But the chief minister quickly added that the BJP was a cadre-based party and one individual could hardly make or mar its chances.
Party leaders say Judeo's decision was "just an extension of his current hate relationship with Raman government".
Judeo unleashed his anger this month by skipping the government's weeklong functions from Nov 1 to mark the state's fourth founding anniversary.
He was the lone senior BJP leader who did not turn up at Raipur airport to receive former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and party president L.K. Advani on two separate occasions.
--Indo-Asian News Service