New Delhi: The battle for Madhya Pradesh continued to peak with the BJP exhorting its cadre to work towards its slogan “abki baar 200 paar” while the Congress state unit chief, Kamal Nath claimed that he was “hungry” to bring his party back in power in the state.

The Congress is out of power in the state since 2003.  Mr Nath, the state Congress chief and a key campaigner for his party however, evaded a direct reply to a question on whether he could be made the chief minister if his party wins the polls.

“Rahul Gandhiji will decide how it will happen,” Mr Nath said during his first campaign rally in the Budhni assembly seat in support of Congress candidate Arun Yadav, who has been fielded against  chief minister Shivraj Singh.

The BJP also continued to play the Hindutva card with party’s national vice president and state in-charge Vinay Sahsrabuddhe said the Congress “cannot hoodwink people by their sudden faith in Lord Ram.” He was replying to a question of the Congress’s ‘Ram van gaman path’ yatra and its bid to woo Hindu voters by promising to build cow sheds in the poll bound state.

The BJP leader said his party’s main agenda in the state is development and the Congress has made cow and the RSS a part of the discourse.

When asked whether or not the party target of 200 plus seats in the assembly polls is ambitious, the BJP vice president said that the “targets are always ambitious and the party us “known for its high ambitions.” He sounded confident that the party will come close to its “ambitious” target.

The party had won 165 seats during last polls but many opinion polls have predicted that though the BJP will retain power, its tally will come down as the opposition Congress is in a resurgent mode.