New Delhi: Has the ‘chawal wale baba’ of Chhattisgarh lost his touch? This is what Chief Minister Raman Singh’s detractors in the state BJP are trying to imply, after the party’s dismal performance in the recent civic polls.

The BJP lost four of 10 municipal corporations, including in Raigarh, and failed to win back Raipur, the state capital, from the Congress. The CM was the star campaigner in the civic polls, with his photograph the most prominent in all publicity material.

The party’s poll managers blame Mr Singh for not checking factional tussles in the state unit, which they hold responsible for the poor show by saffron candidates. The chief minister deputed all his ministers and even state MPs for the campaign.

The BJP’s failure to win Korba, Ambikapur and Jagdalpur, all tribal areas, added to the woes of its poll managers as it was the saffron party’s decreasing popularity in the tribal belt that created problems for it in the 2013 Assembly polls and last year’s general election.

A senior state BJP leader said that the results are an indication that the central leadership needs to take some “drastic measures” as the ruling party’s performance has been on a downward spiral.