In Madhya Pradesh, star campaigners of all the major political parties are addressing several public meetings today. Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi is attending election meetings in Kukshi and Sidhi while BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is addressing election rallies in Satna, Shahdol, Singrauli and Jabalpur. BSP leader Mayawati will attend public meetings in Gwalior and Indore. Union Ministers Kamlanath, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Sushma Swaraj, and film actress Hema Malini, Smriti Irani and Raj Babbar are also campaigning in the state. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will address election meetings using holographic 3-D technique from today. Our Bhopal Correspondent reports that the tribal votes play a decisive role in Mahakaushal region of the state.

There are in all 38 assembly segments in the Mahakaushal, out of which BJP had won 22 and Congress had won 16 segments in the last elections. Speaker Ishwardas Rohani and Deputy Speaker Harvansh Singh, who represented this region in the state assembly, are no more and their sons are contesting from their traditional seats in this election. Four ministers of the BJP government including Ajay Vishnoi and Gaurishankar Bisen are tryning their luck from Mahakaushal. Both BJP and congress are facing infighting within the party on some seats. BSP, SP, NCP Gaundwana Gantantra Party and some smaller parties have the potential to affect the chances of BJP and Congress on some seats. Road connectivity to remote areas, inadequate drinking water supply, lack of education facilities are some of the poll issues in the region. Some districts of the region including Balaghat are affected by the Maoism