The political temperature is already on the rise in Madhya Pradesh as the BJP has pulled a surprise by fielding its big guns for the upcoming state assembly election.
This move comes as the party faces tough competition from the Congress in the state. Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste, along with party MPs Rakesh Singh, Ganesh Singh, Reeti Pathak and Uday Pratap Singh, as well as general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, will now contest the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. As per the BJP’s second list of candidates, Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar will fight from the Dimani seat of Morena, Minister of State (MoS) Prahlad Singh Patel from Narsinghpur, and Faggan Singh Kulaste, also an MoS, from Niwas – a seat reserved for STs. It is believed that the BJP is trying to utilise the experience of its senior leaders to generate buzz in their constituencies as well as other regions. Political leaders say that fielding its big guns signal that the party is “serious” about the state polls. According to Indian Express, the surprise names of central ministers in the candidates list indicate that the saffron party may not reserve the post of chief minister may not for Chouhan this time. “This is a tacit signal that the CM question will be decided after the polls,” a BJP leader told the newspaper. The party has already planned to fight the upcoming state polls “under collective leadership”. Speaking to The New Indian Express (TNIE), a senior BJP functionary said, “The best way to utilise their (senior leaders) experiences of electoral politics is to bring them into the fray for Assembly elections in other states also. The party finds merit in it and may most probably go the way it has gone for MP Assembly election”.
Congress reacts to BJP’s desperate gambit
The Congress was quick to call it BJP’s desperate gambit. “It’s a sign that BJP has accepted defeat,” PCC chief Kamal Nath tweeted. The state Congress said that BJP’s fielding heavyweight leaders is a sign that it fears defeat in the assembly election. State Congress media cell chief KK Mishra said, “Fielding Union ministers shows that the party is afraid it might lose the upcoming assembly election. But who is lightweight and who is heavyweight will be decided in the weighing scale of the people. While names of party big leaders have been announced, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s name is missing. This proves that Chouhan has weakened and is no longer a heavyweight in the party.” Similarly, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed there was a race among senior BJP leaders to “avoid” contesting the MP Assembly elections. “The BJP has run short of candidates in MP and its big leaders are in a race to avoid being in the fray. While fleeing from the battlefield, they are asking each other to contest the polls,” Surjewala was quoted as saying by PTI.
BJP MLAs Quit
In the past few months, several BJP leaders, both big and small, have quit the party and joined the Congress, some with plenty of fanfare. Some estimates put the number at 40. These include the sitting BJP MLA from Kolaras in Shivpuri, Virendra Raghuvanshi; former MLA Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat; former MP from Khargone Makhansingh Solanki; three-time former MLA and former cabinet minister Deepak Joshi; and veteran leader and former two-time MLA Girija Shanker Sharma. Other than these, Three more leaders, Pramod Tandon, Ramkishore Shukla and Dinesh Malhar have left BJP for Congress. They were inducted into the party in the presence of state unit chief and former chief minister Kamal Nath in Indore. Pramod Tandon is known for his association with state BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. He was part of a group of Congress leaders led by Scindia in March 2020 that defected to the BJP. Ramkishore Shukla and Dinesh Malhar have been part of the BJP for a longer time. The former told Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar that the BJP did not give opportunities to local candidates. Malhar said at a press conference that the “BJP is no longer the party that used to respect its workers who toiled to strengthen its base,”
Similar move in other states?
There are reports that the BJP can replicate its Madhya Pradesh strategy in other poll-bound states. As per the news agency PTI, the saffron party is expected to ask Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Arjun Ram Meghwal to fight the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly polls. Other MPs may also get tickets. As per Indian Express, the names of Jaipur rural MP Rajyavardhan Rathore and Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari are also being considered for the Rajasthan Assembly elections. In Chhattisgarh, where the BJP aims to wrest power from Congress, Union minister Renuka Singh might be fielded.
