Kamal Nath is the Congress' CM face for the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly election (File).
Redemption and a second shot at the Chief Minister's chair - these are the not-so-hidden narratives in Madhya Pradesh as veteran politician Kamal Nath plots the Congress' victory.
Rewind to March 2020.
Kamal Nath has quit as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh after two weeks of political intrigue and controversy triggered by ex-Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia's jump to the BJP.
The Congress - which delivered a stupendous (almost) win in the 2018 election, falling short of an outright majority by two seats - is in disarray and its government has collapsed because 22 MLAs have followed Mr Scindia in to its rival's camp.
As a furious Kamal Nath resigns, he declares: "Those responsible remember tomorrow comes after today and day after comes after tomorrow. The day after will come for sure."
Fast-forward to November 2023.
Kamal Nath, now 76, is a man-on-a-mission.
One, to ensure his re-election from Chhindwara, which is not entirely a given even if its voters have sent him to the Lok Sabha a staggering nine times. Two, to ensure the Congress returns to power in a state it has won just once since 2003.
That one win was in 2018 - when Kamal Nath orchestrated a campaign that yielded 114 seats (up from 58 five years ago) and nearly 41 per cent of the popular vote (up from 36 per cent).
The question now is - can he turn the Congress around again?
Who Is Kamal Nath?
Born to a Brahmin family in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur on November 18, 1946, Kamal Nath is the son of Mahendra and Lila Nath, and is married to Alka Nath and has two sons, one of whom - Nakul - is the current Chhindwara Lok Sabha MP.
He is a career politician with administrative experience that includes nine Lok Sabha terms, six union cabinet berths and, of course, a two-year stint as the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.
Widely seen as a Gandhi loyalist - in 1979, while campaigning for him in Chhindwara, Indira Gandhi called him her "third son" - Kamal Nath traces his Congress roots to over a decade earlier.
He joined the youth wing in 1968 after graduating from the Doon School and St Xavier's, Kolkata with a Commerce degree.
Since making his electoral debut in 1980 (with a win), Kamal Nath has made the Chhindwara Lok Sabha segment his own; since then the BJP has won the seat just once - a bypoll in 1997.
He has also ensured the seven Assembly seats here - three of which are reserved for candidates from Scheduled Tribes and two for those from Scheduled Castes - vote for the Congress.
The sway with SC and ST voters could be crucial in a state that has 35 and 47 reserved seats, respectively, in a House of 230.
His first state poll win was his debut - in 2019, triggered by the Congress' 2018 win that required him to be a MLA, within six months, to confirm his appointment as Chief Minister.
ADR Report
Kamal Nath is among the 10 richest (and oldest) candidates in this election, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms, with total assets worth more than Rs 134 crore.
He has also declared two criminal cases against himself.
The 2023 Election
Kamal Nath will face-off against a familiar foe on Friday - the BJP's Vivek Bunty Sahu. He beat him by over 25,000 votes in the 2019 bypoll and will hope for another big win this year.
Finally, could that "day after" be here?
Madhya Pradesh will vote for 230 Assembly seats in a single phase, with results due December 3.