More than three weeks after the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo struck out Shivraj Singh Chouhan from the Madhya Pradesh chief minister’s chair, the pain of the loss persists.

Chouhan told people in his constituency Budhni on Wednesday that sometimes one ends up in “vanvas” (exile) while waiting for “rajtilak” (coronation), in what could be read as a thinly-veiled expression of anger and anguish at the party leadership’s decision.

“Kai baar rajtilak hote hote vanvas bhi ho jata hai, lekin...,” ( Sometimes, one ends up in vanvas while waiting for coronation, but...), Chouhan said addressing a crowd in his constituency.

The ousted chief minister, the last remaining satrap from the Atal-Advani era, tried to sport a smile on his face as he made the comments, appearing to suppress the pain. He took a long pause as he completed the sentence and then fatefully added: “All this happens to fulfill some or the other objective”.

Between the lines, Chouhan’s remarks on Wednesday made it clear that he was awaiting his “coronation” after the BJP won an unexpectedly big mandate under him but was suddenly pushed into “exile”.

The BJP central leadership early last month foisted the low profile but super-rich MLA from Ujjain, Mohan Yadav, to replace four-term chief minister Chouhan. His ouster was justified in the name of effecting a “generational change”.

The move, however, was seen as an effort by the Modi-Shah duo to push to the margins leaders of independent worth from the Atal-Advani era. In a similar move in neighbouring Rajasthan too, former chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia was deprived of the big chair she coveted and a first time MLA was made state boss.

Chouhan was seen to have accepted the decision without any overt resistance but he has made his annoyance known more than once; it is a sign, observers believe, that he hasn’t given up on the power game yet.

Only a day after he was dropped, the stalwart told a crowd of women followers at his residence that he will not “leave” Madhya Pradesh. At a media address later he also obliquely sent out a message to the party leadership that he would “prefer to die rather than ask for something (read post)”.

In his constituency on Wednesday, he continued the same refrain. “Kahin nahi jaunga, jiyunga yaha aur marunga yaha” (I will not go anywhere. I will live here and die here), he said, as some women in the crowd were heard urging him not to leave the state.

The repeated “I will not leave” assertion is also seen as defiance of the central leadership. Internally, the party now wants to shift him to Delhi, and probably serve as a minister in the Modi government or take up an organisational post.

Chouhan, 64, has so far resisted and his backers believe that he can bounce back if he sticks on in the state.

He is credited to have had a better record as chief minister than Modi (in Gujarat) as he transformed backward Madhya Pradesh into a healthy state. Many in the BJP believe that he is now paying the price for being a competitor to Modi for the party’s PM-face in 2014.

He is particularly credited to have transformed the lot of women in the deeply patriarchal state through various cash incentive schemes to promote the education of girls. Ahead of the recent polls, Chouhan launched a cash dole scheme for married women (Ladli Behna), which is widely believed to have ensured a big victory for the BJP despite anti-incumbency.

“The post of chief minister can come and go but the post of ‘bhaiya’ and ‘mama’ is permanent. Nobody can take it,” Chouhan told his home crowd, seeking to assert his popularity. He told the crowd that all the schemes for women started by him would continue.

Chouhan recently moved out of the sprawling chief minister’s official residence overlooking the huge lake in Bhopal.

“The address has changed, but ‘Mama’s’ (maternal uncle) house is still Mama’s house. I will remain connected to you like brother and uncle. The doors of my house will always be open for you,” Chouhan posted on X on Wednesday with pictures of his new home with the board “Mama ka ghar”.

The message to the Delhi leadership seems to be clear: Chouhan is down but not out yet.