Battle for Madhya Pradesh begins: Here's how Shivraj Singh Chouhan plans to counter Rahul Gandhi

The battle for Madhya Pradesh, which is scheduled to go to the polls later this year, may be about to get an early kick-off, as the state's Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the BJP, has made a move to tackle Congress president Rahul Gandhi's grand opening of the Congress' campaign.

With the Opposition making a show of strength in Karnataka one year ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the end-2018 polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram have gained an added dimension, and it was perhaps with this in mind that Rahul Gandhi had planned to address a rally in Mandsaur on June 6 -- one year to the day that five farmers were killed in Police firing during a protest.

While the Malhargarh Sub-Divisional Officer has already issued a list of 19 conditions before the Congress president for allowing him to hold the rally, including the banning of a DJ at the venue as well as instructions to follow guidelines on air pollution, it appears that another list must also now be issued as Shivraj Singh Chouhan has sought to hold his own rally in Mandsaur.

READ | Here Are The 19 Conditions Rahul Gandhi's Planned Rally In Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur Will Have To Abide By

Chouhan will hold his counter-rally -- a public meeting -- a week before Rahul Gandhi, on May 30. While the Congress president's rally is being pitched as a tribute to the farmers who died in the agitation a year earlier, it will also mark the launch of the Congress party's election campaign in the state. In April, Kamal Nath had been appointed the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee's president in the state while Jyotiraditya Scindia was appointed the chairman of the election campaign committee. Rahul Gandhi had already visited Chhattisgarh for two days in the immediate aftermath of the Karnataka elections.