Problem of plenty as BJP looks for CMs in MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing a problem of plenty in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan as it hunts for chief ministers even days after it captured power in assembly elections.

The BJP won a decisive political battle against the Congress on Sunday in the three Hindi heartland states, achieving a much-needed morale booster ahead of the Lok Sabha battle next year. But the BJP leadership is unable to name a chief ministerial or hold a legislature party meeting of its newly elected MLAs in the three states.

The point is whether the BJP leadership wants to name a new person to helm the three states or rely on the old guard.

Even before a decision could be made, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan unveiled Mission 29 on Wednesday, with the stated aim of winning all 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh.

Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh played an important role in helping the BJP win two consecutive general elections in 2014 and 2019.

“From today we are starting ‘Mission 29’. There are 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh. We will work day and night to win all of them. The BJP got 48.6 per cent of the votes which we have not got till now. When we won 173 seats, the vote percentage was 42 percent,” said Chouhan.

Chouhan factor

In Madhya Pradesh the BJP did not name Chouhan as the chief ministerial candidate though he was the chief minister.

With just five months left for the Lok Sabha elections, the choice of chief minister in the three states can play an important role in the election performance of the BJP.

Although a large section of leaders in the BJP leadership are keen that the party finds new faces to take command in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, it will not be easy to ignore Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh and Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan.

The BJP may find it difficult to replace Chouhan because he belongs to the other backward classes (OBC) community and is the most experienced state leader for the party in Madhya Pradesh.

If it wants to dump Chouhan, it will have to pick between union ministers Prahlad Singh Patel, who also belongs to the OBC community, or Narendra Singh Tomar. Both Tomar and Patel resigned from the Modi cabinet on Wednesday.

All MPs who contested the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan on Wednesday resigned from Parliament.

Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan

To complicate matters, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has indicated that the BJP should continue with Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh as he is an OBC leader and people have backed his Ladli Behna scheme.

The situation in Chhattisgarh is no different. The BJP is struggling between former chief minister Raman Singh, state unit president Arun Sao or a leader from the OBC community. Sao too has resigned a Lok Sabha membe.

The decision on the next chief minister of Rajasthan seems the most difficult for the BJP. It involves a contest involving former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Mahant Balak Nath, an MP who won the assembly elections.

While Shekhawat has the confidence of the BJP brass and is favoured for the top post, Raje is the most experienced leader in Rajasthan and also belongs to the OBC community. Several newly elected MLAs have started meeting Raje in Jaipur in the hope that she will be the next chief minister.

Raje also has family connections in both the Jat and Gurjar communities, making her acceptable to members of these two dominant communities. Her royal background also makes her acceptable to Rajputs and Brahmins.

“The decision of the next chief minister will be made by the BJP’s parliamentary board,” said CP Joshi, the BJP’s Rajasthan chief who was in Delhi to meet BJP President JP Nadda.