BJP president Amit Shah on Friday linked the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls with the 2019 general election, calling upon voters to press the lotus button and get a “double sarkar” — a BJP government in the state now and a Narendra Modi government at the Centre next year.

“If you vote here, you form two governments. Once you press the lotus button here, you elect a BJP government in Madhya Pradesh and automatically a BJP-led Narendra Modi government returns to power in 2019,” Shah told a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat.

“Shouldn’t it be done? One vote, ‘double sarkar’ (two governments)? Will you do it or not?” Shah asked the crowd repeatedly till it responded with a “yes”.

Many party leaders in Delhi felt that with this line, Shah had linked Modi’s fate with the outcome in the state polls. “If Shah is saying a BJP government in Madhya Pradesh will automatically elect a Modi government in 2019, then the converse should also be true,” said a BJP leader, who is feeling sidelined under the current regime.

Shah had put Modi’s image at stake in a desperate bid to pull off a victory in the state, they said.

The BJP president, who is leading the election campaign from the front, addressed four rallies and undertook one road show in Madhya Pradesh that votes on November 28.

Many others in the BJP, however, argued that Shah was tapping into Modi’s popularity to offset the impact of anti-incumbency the three-term-old BJP government in the state was facing. Party leaders believe that Modi’s personal credibility among voters was still very high and that people would think twice before voting for the Congress if they thought the BJP’s defeat in the state would hurt his chances in 2019.

“Despite accumulated grievances with the BJP governments, voters’ preference for Modi in 2019 is overwhelming. No voter in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan or Chhattisgarh wants Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister,” another BJP leader said, describing Shah’s strategy as “clever”.

In all three states voting now — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — the BJP has gone into the election by projecting the face of the respective chief ministers, not Modi, in contrast to previous Assembly polls. The billboards and posters are dominated by the faces of the chief ministers, with Modi and Shah in inset. Modi is not carpet-bombing the states with his rallies, as in past elections.

However, as the poll dates draw closer in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, party managers seem to be realising the need to pitch Modi’s name. Shah, party leaders said, fears that a debacle in this round of polls would damage the BJP’s prospects in 2019.

In his poll speeches, Shah repeatedly tore into Rahul Gandhi for his pro-farmer pitch, indicating the Congress president’s stand on farmers’ issues and rural distress could be hurting the BJP. “Rahul is going around saying ‘farmers, farmers…’. What does he know about agriculture? Does he know whether potato grows over or under the ground or is it manufactured in factories?” Shah said. He even challenged Rahul to come up with the names of 5 Rabi and 5 Kharif crops.

Rahul’s “chowkidar chor hai” slogan and Opposition unity also appeared to dominate Shah’s mind. He likened the coming together of the Opposition parties to that of “thieves on bail”. “Thieves who went to jail caught by a chowkidar have come out to cry ‘chowkidar chor hai’. People, however, aware of everything and they will elect the chowkidar once again for their safety and security,” Shah said.