A three-day meeting of top RSS functionaries in Ujjain recently ended with three high-profile BJP leaders closeted with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to discuss the coming Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh this year. The BJP is worried after the poor results and growing disenchantment among the masses against the 14-years of BJP rule in the state.
The meeting between BJP national president Amit Shah, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and general secretary Kailash Vijayavargiya, who hails from the state, has set tongues wagging in political circles about changes in the party's state unit. While the chief minister remains firmly in the saddle, changes are likely to be made in the party organisation, with state chief Nandkumar Singh Chouhan being replaced.
Despite the intense farmers agitation, which led to the killing of six peasants in police firing and the BJP losing two Assembly polls in a row last year, the Midas touch of Shivraj continues among the poor in the absence of any other leader. The BJP has systematically sidelined Uma Bharti from the state; in fact, she was sent out to Uttar Pradesh from where she is an MP and Union minister, after she had revolted against the party in 2005 for removing her and making Shivraj chief minister. After the Bharti episode, no other leader in the state was allowed to become larger than life, so as to give a smooth environment for Shivraj.
Shivraj, through his docile mannerisms and hard work, proved that he was the right choice by winning two Assembly polls in 2008 and 2013 consecutively. However after 13 years of his regime, he faces anti-incumbency, which the BJP wants to counter by effecting changes in the party organisation and state cabinet.
Sources in the BJP claim that there is no better alternative for the party other than Shivraj to counter the fragmented Congress, which has too many leaders aspiring for the post of chief minister.
Over the years, Shivraj has carefully created an image of being a pro-poor politician. “In fact, he is the only face among the top BJP leaders who is associated with the politics of the poor; even Narendra Modi is not there. In fact, Modi is still remembered for his pro-rich image and his expensive suit,” says political analyst and senior journalist Rajesh Sirothia.
The BJP winning the last two polls was attributed to the fact that Shivraj had reached out to the marginalised sections of society. “Otherwise, it was not possible for a party like the BJP to win in a state with a bipolar polity, which has over 36 per cent of tribals and dalit population,” Sirothia added.
However, the ruling BJP also understands well the fact that Shivraj might have limitations as his image was tarnished in the Vyapam Scam and police firing on farmers, but it has no other option, with just 11 months remaining for the polls.
Interestingly, the CBI has given a clean chit to Shivraj in the Vyapam Scam, saying that allegations of the Congress that a hard disk was tampered with were false; yet a section of the BJP and public believe that the case has severely dented the image of the chief minister. Similarly, the local body elections conducted immediately after the farmer’s agitation in July last year saw the BJP winning hands down.
With his 'no-ego' political style and by always being 'obedient' to the Sangh Parivar, Shivraj has made himself indispensable to the BJP and RSS.
The recent Shankaracharya Ekatma Yatra was conducted on the platform of the state government while it was purely part of a Sangh agenda to celebrate the legacy of a saint, who is considered to be the revival saint of Hinduism.
While Shivraj has many limitations as an administrator as he could not make the backward state of Madhya Pradesh into a leading state, despite political stability of 14 years, his political vision and oration skills have made him a darling of the masses.
Though several leaders like Vijayavargiya and Bharti do not like him, Shivraj's characteristics of winning elections and working for more than 16 hours every day with one of two rallies daily in different parts of the state has made him appear larger than life.
That is why in order to bring some changes in the party's set-up in the state, the BJP state president may be changed but not the chief minister as he continues to be the face of the party in Madhya Pradesh.
