India: Battle for top post in Madhya Pradesh has just begun

Mr. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Minister (CM) of Madhya Pradesh, India, firmly supports Yogi Adityanath, the CM of Uttar Pradesh, who is a role model for all Bharatiya Janata Party CMs. While channeling this, he looked over his shoulder with a nervous look on his face.

Mr. Chouhan is the longest-serving CM in the history of a Congress leader, but he lacks political weight and clout. As a result, he feared that he might be replaced as the face of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state where elections were coming up.

Vasundhra Raje Scindia, the tallest Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Rajasthan, also shares Mr Chouhan’s plight, saying he prefers Congress CM Ashok to rivals imposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party Center on the Bharatiya Janata Party state unit. Gehlot seems to understand better.

In a sense, the ‘parliamentization’ of the BJP is complete, as leaders with neither a mass base nor proven electoral ability are preferred over deep-rooted strong satraps like Chouhan, Scindia and even BS Yediyurappa are doing.

Leaders who try to increase their public profile, like Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra, are ruthlessly discarded.

With the exception of Yogi Adityanath, the party’s electoral totem in Uttar Pradesh, which has a mammoth 80-member Lok Sabha seat and is crucial to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Mission 2024, no power and influence comes from ‘Delhi’. People like leaders who bring out their strengths.

There are regular attempts to show off ‘Delhi’s influence’ in Lucknow by sending Amit Shah’s trusted aide Sunil Bansal back to UP to manage elections.

Yogi Adityanath felt that Bansal, who was a candidate earlier, was emerging as an “alternative power centre” and ensured that he was ousted from UP.

The “protective shield” placed on Brij Bhushan Saran Singh, who caused controversy over sexual harassment allegations against female athletes, was also intended to checkmate Yogi Adityanath in the important Ayodhya area where Singh holds decision-making power. It belongs to

Singh’s unilateral announcement that he will contest elections again from Kaiserganj speaks volumes about how he makes decisions within the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Singh has a dislike for Yogi Adityanath and both are contesting for Thakur votes in UP.

I spoke to four BJP leaders for this SWAT analysis and one of them asked a very interesting question. He said, Can you or anyone else interested in Indian politics recall the names of all the CMs of Gujarat after Modi’s tenure as PM?

I weakly came up with the name of PM Modi’s successor, Anandibehen Patel, and did a frantic Google search. Result: Mr. Patel was replaced by Mr. Vijay Rupani, who was sacked due to mismanagement due to the coronavirus, and is now replaced by the incumbent Bhupendrabhai Patel. Mr. Patel has been the leader of Delhi leaders in all elections. I am receiving guidance.

A Bharatiya Janata Party official told me: “We will fight every election in the name of Modi. Narendrabhai is our main election weapon. But remember one thing, nothing happens under the shade of a giant banyan tree. It doesn’t grow.”

With more and more ‘pracharak’ (RSS full-timer) leaders like ML Khatar and Haryana CM being imposed, Modi has become essential to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral victory.

In a sense, the ‘parliamentization’ of the BJP is complete, as leaders with neither a mass base nor proven electoral ability are preferred over deep-rooted strong satraps like Chouhan, Scindia and even BS Yediyurappa are doing.

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In Karnataka BL Santosh too, the organizing secretary of the BJP (with RSS) took decisions and took all important decisions. Unfortunately for the Bharatiya Janata Party, due to his lack of electoral experience, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election campaign failed and he was unable to land his dream job as Karnataka CM.

Mr. Chouhan was nervous about the rise of aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who brought down the Congress-led Kamalnath government, and left the parliament with 22 members.

Ironically, Chouhan was then able to occupy the CM’s office again. Now, the impatient Mr. Scindia is suffocating his neck along with the Congress party. Scindia makes no bones about the fact that he wants to become a Congress CM.

Meanwhile, her aunt Scindia is locked in a permanent conflict with the Central People’s Party, which is currently trying to replace her with Gajendra Singh Shekhwat, the water resources minister and an ardent disciple of Modi.

The entire BJP is keeping an eye on the fate of Mr. Chouhan and Mr. Scindia. This is because it will indicate the future direction of the party. Watch this space.