The Indian political scenario is always marred by intrigue and strategy. A crucial aspect of this tactical play involves political parties revealing their Chief Ministerial (CM) candidates before assembly elections.
Two of India’s largest parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, face a recurring dilemma of whether to announce their CM faces before polls or not.
A major reason for this dilemma is the multitude of aspirants within each party. The declaration of a particular candidate can lead to internal disputes and create schisms within the party. This could portray a negative image to the voters, suggesting a lack of unity and coherence within the party ranks.
Five crucial state assembly elections are due in November-December this year before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the BJP and the Congress are locked in a direct fight in this Hindi heartland. Of these three states, the Congress is ruling in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.
Recently, Congress veteran Kamal Nath challenged the BJP to announce its chief ministerial (CM) candidate for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh polls and questioned why the saffron party was hesitant to do so.
Amit Shah said in Bhopal that currently, Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the Chief Minister of the party. The party will decide what happens next. Why have you (a journalist) started doing the work of our party? That is the work of our party.
Both major parties, the BJP and the Congress, have been observed avoiding the projection of a Chief Ministerial face before assembly polls in the states.
As a standard practice, the Congress typically refrains from declaring a CM candidate in states where the party is not in power. Consequently, in 2022 and 2023, there have been 11 assembly elections in which the Congress did not project a CM candidate before the polls.
The BJP’s decision to avoid announcing a chief ministerial candidate ahead of assembly elections is a strategic political move. The party capitalises on Prime Minister Modi’s popularity and bypasses any potential inner-party rebellions that may arise due to caste and political equations. Adhering to its ideology of collective leadership, the party emphasises Modi’s national-level leadership, eliminating the need for a state-level face.
This approach aims to maintain a state of ambiguity in poll-bound states, preventing factionalism from arising before the elections. This strategy has proven successful in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Out of the eleven assembly elections since 2022, the BJP projected its CM’s face only in five states before the polls, and that too only in states where the party was in power.
