Jokowi locks horns with his party in battleground Solo

Residents of city in PDI-P's stronghold of Central Java believe he backs rival candidate

- Arlina Arshad

As visitors drive into Solo city, the home town of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, they are greeted by colourful party flags and hundreds of posters featuring candidates for the Feb 14 elections.

But some of these posters also bear the face of the popular outgoing leader, even though he is not in the running.

Many residents strut around in campaign T-shirts emblazoned with photos of their favourite presidential candidates. The tees usually feature either Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto or former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, with hardly any of Mr Anies Baswedan, the third contender in the race.

Dig a little deeper, and it appears the real battle in Solo is being fought between Mr Widodo, who is better known as Jokowi, and the party he belongs to, the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Solo residents believe the President backs Mr Prabowo, who is running with 36-year-old Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his vice-presidential candidate. Mr Gibran is Mr Widodo's son and the current mayor of Solo.

However, Mr Ganjar is running on the ticket of the PDI-P, which has a stronghold in Central Java province, where Solo is located.

"This is our dilemma. We all love Jokowi - he is hands down the best president Indonesia has had. He is the true blue son of Solo, our pride.

But many Solo residents are hardcore supporters of the PDI-P. It's hard to pick one," 56-year-old furniture seller Ibarnawan told The Straits Times.

Putting his hand to his heart, he added: "For me, here lies Jokowi, so I'll go with Mr Prabowo." For months, local media has speculated that a rift has opened up between Mr Widodo and PDI-P matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri, purportedly over who should succeed him.

As the polling date draws near and the election race heats up, the cracks are hard to hide.