Will BJP try reset in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh?
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, July 10: Madhya Pradesh is known to be the original laboratory of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS). Yet, alarm bells are ringing in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with Karnataka-like feedback on the poll prospects.
By the time Madhya Pradesh goes to the poll, incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan would have logged in over 16 years in the office. His stint in the office of the chief minister since 2005 was interrupted only when the BJP handed over the power in Bhopal to the Congress and Kamal Nath succeeded him in 2018 but lasted only till 2020.
Now, Chouhan is battling “boredom” among the party workers, and the BJP top brass watches out his bid to compete with the Congress over freebies in a sign of nervousness. The BJP’s feedback gathered during the month-long outreach in Madhya Pradesh for the ninth anniversary of Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre is also said to be not highly inspiring.
While the political circles had always been abuzz with speculations of the likely replacement of Chouhan for the past 18 months, the incumbent chief minister has so far survived in the office. Madhya Pradesh Assembly election will be held in November this year, giving the BJP less than four months to get the house in the order.
Informed sources claimed that the possibility of a rejig in the state unit organization is still alive, and the BJP may even get a new chief in place of incumbent VD Sharma. Also, the party may work out a campaign committee chief for Madhya Pradesh, said informed sources, to keep the issue of the leadership alive after the Assembly election.
“It may be too late in the day to replace the chief minister, for the move will send out a negative message and bring an element of admission of the BJP-led state administration not appealing to the people. Yet, it may be worth exploring for the party brass to persuade the chief minister to promote a young leadership in the state. If such a move is given a thought, it may energise the party workers,” said a senior BJP functionary. However, the challenge for the BJP remains lack of leadership in the state, as there is hardly anyone who can match the oratory and following of Chouhan across the state. Chouhan supporters also claim that the chief minister can square off against Kamal Nath, “who is also an old face in Madhya Pradesh”.
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