In the 2018 elections, they won 114 seats to the BJP’s 109 and formed the government (File).
New Delhi:
Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party have played down rumors that Shivraj Singh Chouhan – the longest-serving chief minister – may not figure in the plans for the elections due in Madhya Pradesh this year.
Top BJP sources told NDTV this morning that reports of him being denied a ticket are false, but the caveat – that “any big leader can become prime minister after the elections” – is unlikely to end speculation about the immediate political future of Mr Chouhan.
The BJP has released two lists so far and in an unusual move, these include three union ministers – Narendra Tomar, Prahlad Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste – and its national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, as well as others who are sitting parliamentarians. . The strength of these lists has been highlighted by the opposition Congress, which has derided the ruling party for “accepting defeat”.
BJP sources have responded to this joke by pointing out that no sitting minister from Madhya Pradesh has been named so far – seen by some as another sign that Mr Chouhan will be dropped. The same sources have also urged MPs and union ministers to send a message of “combined leadership”.
READ | BJP brings out top guns in Madhya Pradesh, trouble for Shivraj Chouhan?
The party is focused on “curbing nepotism” and winning seats, and regional leaders must now prove their worth to the BJP’s national command to have a chance at state elections, sources claim.
Significantly, the BJP’s apparent move towards the message of ‘unity’ comes in a state where it is likely to face an undivided opposition – the INDIA bloc which may contest these elections together rather than bickering among themselves, as they might do in states like Bengal, Punjab and Kerala.
The BJP’s move to include some of its biggest names in a state poll also appears to underline that it is working to strengthen seats in which it believes it is weak and susceptible to opposition attacks.
So far, the BJP has named 76 candidates, but there are still 154 seats to be won in an election that will once again see Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the party’s driving force.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chouhan continues to play the team game.
Addressing a party workers meeting in Bhopal on Monday, he attacked the Congress for making Madhya Pradesh a ‘BIMARU’ state and praised his government for removing that label.
‘Remember that dark phase… when the Madhya Pradesh Congress had a ‘bimaru rajya‘ (a ‘sick’ state, referring to states that perform poorly on key economic indicators). We’ve taken away that stigma…”
READ | Congress removed, Madhya Pradesh ‘Bimaru Rajya’ stigma created: Shivraj Chouhan
Congress responds to Shivraj Chouhan’s buzz
The Congress sees an opportunity to flip the state it lost in 2020 (two years into its five-year term) after Jyotiraditya Scindia and nearly two dozen legislators joined the BJP to topple the government.
Kamal Nath, who was forced to resign as chief minister, said the failure to name Mr Chouhan “is a clear seal of internal defeat against the BJP, which claims to be a party of millions of workers”.
The BJP is facing a crisis of lack of confidence. This time it will experience its biggest defeat in its biggest stronghold… Congress will win double the number of seats. The BJP’s ‘double engine’ government is heading for a double defeat,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
I think I got it right – नाम बड़े और दर् शनछोटे। I think I did well I think I’ll go to 2023 in 2023 Like in 2024, in 2024 में। I think I’m doing well I think I’m…
— Kamal Nath (@OfficeOfKNath) September 26, 2023
Another Congress leader Randeep Surjewala claimed that the BJP is now afraid of the Opposition.
The Congress formed the government after the 2018 elections resulted in a hung assembly; it won 114 seats to the BJP’s 109, but the latter party won the popular vote. However, the Congress government fell after Scindia and rebel lawmakers joined the BJP, leaving Kamal Nath with no option but to resign.
