The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sprung a surprise by fielding seven sitting Lok Sabha MPs for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections due later this year. Political circles are abuzz with speculation that the saffron party may repeat this pattern in other upcoming National Assembly polls.
The BJP has so far announced the names of 78 candidates for all 230 assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. Which parliamentarians will fight the parliamentary elections? Why did the saffron festival offer tickets to these big names?
Let’s understand.
Who disputes?
Among the seven sitting Lok Sabha MPs, three Union ministers will contest the elections from Madhya Pradesh. According to the BJP’s second list of candidates, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will contest from Morena’s Dimani seat, Minister of State (MoS) Prahlad Singh Patel from Narsinghpur and Faggan Singh Kulaste, also an MoS, from Niwas – a seat reserved for STs.
The party also fielded four other MLAs – Rakesh Singh from Jabalpur West, Ganesh Singh from Satna, Uday Pratap Singh from Gadarwara and Reeti Pathak from Sidhi.
Another senior leader who will contest is BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya from Indore Assembly seat number 1.
Not a new strategy
Getting Lok Sabha MPs to fight state elections is not a new strategy of the BJP. She has already tried this method several times in Madhya Pradesh.
Outgoing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was a four-time Lok Sabha MP when he was pitted against Congress’s Digvijaya Singh from Raghogarh in the 2003 assembly elections.
In the 2008 Madhya Pradesh polls, then Hoshangabad MP Sartaj Singh and Seoni MP Neeta Pateria were given tickets. The BJP had fielded Yashodhara Raje Scindia when she was MLA from Gwalior in the 2013 Assembly elections.
The saffron party did the same in other states. Lok Sabha MP Sarbananda Sonowal was asked to contest the 2016 Assam Assembly elections from Majuli. He was later made the chief minister when the BJP came to power in the state.
Why are so many senior leaders in MP polls?
Observers believe that the BJP is trying to use the experience of its senior leaders to generate buzz in their constituencies as well as other areas. Political leaders say rolling out its big guns signals the party is “serious” about state polls.
According to Indian Express, the surprise names of central ministers in the list of candidates indicate that the saffron party may not reserve the chief minister’s post for Chouhan this time. “It is a tacit signal that the CM issue will be decided after the elections,” a BJP leader told the newspaper.
The party has already planned to conduct the next national elections “under collective leadership”.
Talk to The New Indian Express (TNIE), a senior BJP functionary said, “The best way to use their (senior leaders’) experiences in electoral politics is to bring them into the fray for Assembly elections in other states as well.” The party finds merit in this and could very probably follow the same path as it followed for the election of deputies to the Parliamentary Assembly.”
According to India today, Tomar’s fighting from Dimni will affect polling in Gwalior Chambal, while Vijayvargiya’s candidature in Indore could impact Malwa. With Kulaste in the electoral field, the elections in Mahakoshal are likely to be influenced.
Prahlad Patel’s candidature could help in Bundelkhand, as well as that of Riti Pathak and Ganesh Singh in Baghelkhand, according to the news channel.
With this move, the BJP is also trying to tackle any opposition to Chief Minister Chouhan’s tenure.
A BJP insider said Indian Express that keeping the post of chief minister open could motivate certain social groups. “People from Chambal division or Thakur caste may think that Tomar has a chance. Tribal voters will feel that the state might get an Adivasi CM in Kulaste. The OBC Lodhis might believe in Patel’s chances while the people of Malwa might consider (BJP national general secretary) Kailash Vijayvargiya, who did not seem very happy with the decision, as having a chance,” the official was quoted as saying. by the newspaper.
Talk to Indian Express, Vijayvargiya, who was said to be “shocked and confused” by his nomination, said the decision to field senior figures in the MLA was taken by the “party leadership”. “None of us (eight senior leaders whose names were announced on the second list) have ever lost an election. The party may have felt that we should contest to ensure that the BJP wins this election. This gives the impression that the party is taking this election very seriously. The whole team will work together during the elections and later in the government.”
A similar approach in other states?
There are reports that the BJP may replicate its Madhya Pradesh strategy in other poll-bound states. According to the press agency PTI, the saffron party is expected to ask Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Arjun Ram Meghwal to fight in the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly polls. Other MPs can also get tickets.
Meghwal, who is an MP from Bikaner constituency, is currently the Union Law Minister. “It is also possible that the party will ask him to lead the government if elected, based on his political experience. He is a bureaucrat-turned-politician and is well aware of the political and administrative strengths and weaknesses of the state,” a source said. TNIE.
According to Indian Expressthe names of Jaipur Rural MP Rajyavardhan Rathore and Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari are also being considered for the Rajasthan Assembly elections.
In Chhattisgarh, where the BJP aims to wrest power from the Congress, Union Minister Renuka Singh may be nominated, reported TNIE.
In Telangana, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy may be asked to contest the Assembly elections, sources said NDTV.
Congress takes action
Lashing out at the saffron party, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that there was a race among senior BJP leaders to “avoid” contesting the Parliamentary Assembly elections.
“The BJP is short of MP candidates and its top leaders are in a race to avoid being in the fray. While fleeing the battlefield, they are asking each other to contest the elections,” Surjewala was quoted as saying by PTI.
Surjewala, who is also Congress general secretary, said Chouhan and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had “conspired” to push their “rivals” Union ministers into the election battle, adding that “the duo Chouhan-Scindia scripted a film entitled Hum To Dubenge Sanam Tumko Bhi Le Dubenge (We are drowning, we will take you >.)
With the contribution of agencies
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