The black Scorpio in which he arrives at the election meeting in Dhar, near Indore, drives right up to the dais, halts and is quickly surrounded by the chief minister's security personnel.

Followed by a sea of people, Digvijay Singh hastily climbs onto the stage, does a namaste and takes a place right in front.

Singh has come to whip up support for Karan Singh Pawar. A descendant of the royal family of Dhar, Pawar defeated BJP chief ministerial candidate Vikram Verma -- now the Union sports minister -- in the 1998 assembly election.

Dhar is also where former BJP president Shashikant 'Kushabhau' Thakre was born and home to the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Moula mosque -- which had become the focus of tension between Hindus and Muslims on the right to worship at the site.