After Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh too slated for a centrally driven BJP poll campaign, but will it backfire?

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The growing perception that the BJP high command considers Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan too vulnerable to spearhead the campaign in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh appears to be the biggest handicap for the party, which is otherwise way ahead of the Congress in terms of resources and organisational strength.

For a chief minister, who ruled the state for 18 years, Chouhan’s perceived subordination to the central leadership’s diktats in every poll-related decision has left the party cadres in the state more confused than enthused in the run up to the assembly election due in November.

Chouhan Cut To Size?

While the Congress has mounted its aggressive campaign on  “50 percent commission ki sarkar” to highlight alleged corruption in the BJP rule, the chief minister is facing a perceptional battle in his own party as well.

Union home minister Amit Shah’s sidestepping the question in a press conference about Chouhan continuing as CM in the event of the party’s victory in the election has further compounded the confusion.

Shah, who is commandeering the election preparations and frequently visiting Madhya Pradesh for the purpose, was in Bhopal on August 20 to release the report card of the BJP’s 20-year-rule, cryptically remarked that “party will collectively decide on the issue”. That the CM was denied the privilege of releasing his own government’s report card has accentuated perceived diminution of his role in this election.

In the past three assembly elections in the state, Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the undisputed helmsman of the ruling party. Again, unlike in the past elections, Chouhan has not been permitted to lead the party’s “Jan Ashirvad Yatra” across the state. Such yatras have been delegated to state ministers to be taken out in their respective regions of influence in coming days.

BJP’s Ticket Distribution Head-Start

In the crucial decision on candidate selection too the central leadership seems to have completely prevailed over the CM as was amply reflected in the list of 39 candidates released last week for the seats the BJP had lost in the 2018 assembly election.

The release of the list provided an occasion to the BJP to gloat over the Congress’s inability to match the rival in advance selection of candidates. State Congress president Kamal Nath had been saying for quite some time that the party would announce its candidates by August but the BJP stole the march on this count.

However, the initial euphoria in the BJP over gaining a psychological  advantage against the main rival soon enough gave way to worries as protests erupted across at least a dozen constituencies where jilted aspirants and their supporters vociferously cried foul. The disgruntled lot are alleging flagrant violation of every criterion that the party set for candidate selection.

High Command’s ‘Winnable’ Candidates

In one of the 39 seats, a serving government doctor was chosen, in another a serving magistrate, and in yet another an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader. The wife of an Indian Revenue Service officer of Rajasthan cadre also figured in the list. The candidates in at least three seats have attracted allegations of nepotism and dynastic rule.

But the state leadership, despite sympathy for the losers in the race, cannot do anything except secretly wringing  their hands in despair. The dissidents are being persuaded to accept the central leadership’s decision which is said to be based on a secret survey that was conducted to choose winnable candidates.

All big leaders in the state leadership suffered losses as their chosen ones didn’t make it to the final list. One of Jyotiraditya Scindia’s staunch supporters, who had joined him in the March 2020 mass defection that toppled the Kamal Nath government, was also among those denied a ticket.

State leaders are on tenterhooks as more lists of candidates are awaited. Amit Shah has made it clear that no matter what, the candidates selected by his team will be given a ticket with winnability being the sole criterion.

Chouhan On Sop-Spree

Both in ticket distribution and campaigning, the central leadership has reposed greater faith in three Union ministers – Narendra Singh Tomar, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bhupendra Yadav. While Tomar as head of the campaign committee has already started his work in earnest, his two cabinet colleagues are expected to intensify their supervisory role as electioneering gains momentum.

In the scheme of things devised by the high command, the chief minister’s role appears to be confined to exploiting the resources at his command to the hilt. And he is sparing no efforts in this role.

Not a day has passed in the recent past, particularly in the last couple of months, when Shivraj Singh Chouhan has not announced one mega scheme or another to woo different sections of voters. He seems to be banking most on the Ladli Behna Yojna which provides for Rs 1,000 per woman per month to nearly 1.5 crore potential beneficiaries.

Rakesh Dixit is a senior journalist based in Bhopal. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.