MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram will hold assembly elections this year (File).
Mumbai:
The Bharatiya Janata Party will not field a prime minister candidate in any of the five state elections due later this year, especially in the Hindi-speaking states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, senior BJP sources told NDTV on Monday. plans to rely on ‘collective leadership’ to win these polls and those in Telangana and Mizoram.
This insight into the BJP’s strategy comes amid speculation about the immediate political future of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Chouhan, 64, has not been named as a candidate so far, sparking rumors that the party may drop him to counter the anti-incumbency trend.
Earlier today, party sources told NDTV that Mr Chouhan’s removal is “completely wrong” but the caveat that “any leader can become prime minister” has not really settled the matter.
The message of ‘collective leadership’ was also spread in that context and the party has indicated that, should it win the elections, a chief minister will be chosen by the newly elected lawmakers.
READ | Shivraj Chouhan sidelined in Madhya Pradesh campaign? What BJP sources say
In Rajasthan, where the BJP is in opposition, this tactic means the party will contest without a prime minister candidate for the first time. Former Prime Minister Vasundhara Raje, a prominent face of the Scindia royal family and the party’s tallest leader in the state, is widely seen as a shoo-in.
As early as January, there was a stir over Ms Raje’s nomination as the candidate for the top post, with posters declaring her as such appearing outside the party’s state headquarters in Jaipur.
READ | Prime Ministerial candidate buzz over Vasundhara Raje’s poster at BJP office
Earlier posters featured Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief JP Nadda, along with head of state Satish Poonia and Leader of the Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Arjun Ram Meghwal, both union ministers, are also contenders.
However, it seems all is not well in Rajasthan. Mr Meghwal was this month entangled in corruption allegations by MLA Kailash Meghwal, who has since been suspended.
READ |As BJP chalks out Rajasthan poll plan, Meghwal vs Meghwal in the open
For now, however, the BJP seems content to rely on ‘collective leadership’ to retake Rajasthan.
In Chhattisgarh – also Congress-ruled – the BJP has what would be ‘traditional’ options in the form of former Prime Minister Raman Singh and state chief Arun Sao, but is likely to take the ‘collective’ route.
Senior BJP sources have high hopes for the ‘collective leadership’ plan, taking the party’s victory in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections as a model for future state polls.
