Madhya Pradesh Assembly Polls: Why has BJP fielded Union ministers in the fray?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pulled a surprise by fielding seven sitting Lok Sabha MPs for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections slated later this year. Political circles are abuzz with speculations that the saffron party can repeat this template in other upcoming state Assembly polls.

The BJP has so far declared the names of 78 candidates for the 230 Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. Which parliamentarians will be fighting the MP polls? Why has the saffron party given tickets to these big names?

Let’s understand.

Who is contesting?

Among the seven sitting Lok Sabha MPs, three Union Ministers will be contesting the Madhya Pradesh polls. As per the BJP’s second list of candidates, Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar will fight from the Dimani seat of Morena, 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 has also fielded four other MPs – 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 Number 1 seat.

Not a new strategy

Making Lok Sabha MPs fight state polls is not a new strategy of the BJP. It has tried this method in Madhya Pradesh several times before.

The incumbent chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was a four-time Lok Sabha MP when he was pitted against Congress’ Digvijaya Singh from Raghogarh in the 2003 Assembly elections.

In the 2008 Madhya Pradesh polls, Sartaj Singh, the then MP from Hoshangabad, and Seoni MP Neeta Pateria were given tickets. The BJP had fielded Yashodhara Raje Scindia while she was Gwalior MP in the 2013 Assembly polls.

The saffron party has done the same in other states. Lok Sabha MP Sarbananda Sonowal was asked to contest in the 2016 Assam Assembly elections from Majuli. He was then made the chief minister as the BJP came to power in the state.

Why so many senior leaders in MP polls

Observers believe that the BJP is trying to utilise the experience of its senior leaders to generate buzz in their constituencies as well as other regions. Political leaders say that fielding its big guns signal that the party is “serious” about the state polls.

According to Indian Express, the surprise names of central ministers in the candidates list indicate that the saffron party may not reserve the post of chief minister may not for Chouhan this time. “This is a tacit signal that the CM question will be decided after the polls,” a BJP leader told the newspaper.

The party has already planned to fight the upcoming state polls “under collective leadership”.

Speaking to The New Indian Express (TNIE), a senior BJP functionary said, “The best way to utilise their (senior leaders) experiences of electoral politics is to bring them into the fray for Assembly elections in other states also. The party finds merit in it and may most probably go the way it has gone for MP Assembly election”.

As per India Today, Tomar 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 polling in Mahakoshal is likely to be influenced.

Prahlad Patel’s candidature may help in Bundelkhand, and Riti Pathak and Ganesh Singh in Baghelkhand, according to the news channel.

With the move, the BJP is also attempting to tackle any anti-incumbency against chief minister Chouhan.

A BJP insider told Indian Express that keeping the chief minister’s post open could motivate some social groups. “People from the Chambal division or the Thakur caste may fancy that Tomar has a chance. Tribal voters will sense that the state may get an Adivasi CM in Kulaste. The OBC Lodhis may fancy the chances of Patel while Malwa residents may see (BJP national general secretary) Kailash Vijayvargiya, who did not seem too happy with the decision, as having a chance,” the functionary was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Speaking to Indian Express, Vijayvargiya, who was reportedly “shocked and confused” by his nomination, said the decision to field senior faces in MP was taken by “party leadership”. “None of us (eight senior leaders whose names were announced in 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. It gives the impression that the party is taking this election very seriously. The entire team will work together collectively in the elections and later in the government.”

Similar move in other states?

There are reports that the BJP can replicate its Madhya Pradesh strategy in other poll-bound states. As per the news agency PTI, the saffron party is expected to ask Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Arjun Ram Meghwal to fight the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly polls. Other MPs may also get tickets.

Meghwal, who is the MP from Bikaner constituency, is currently the Union law minister. “There is also the possibility that the party may ask him to head the government if it is voted to power, on the basis of his political experience. He is a bureaucrat-turned-politician and knows well the state’s political and administrative strengths and weaknesses,” a source told TNIE.

As per Indian Express, the 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 Congress, Union minister Renuka Singh might be fielded, reported TNIE.

In Telangana, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy might be asked to contest Assembly polls, sources told NDTV. 

Congress hits out

Taking a potshot at the saffron party, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed there was a race among senior BJP leaders to “avoid” contesting the MP Assembly elections.

“The BJP has run short of candidates in MP and its big leaders are in a race to avoid being in the fray. While fleeing from the battlefield, they are asking each other to contest the polls,” Surjewala was quoted as saying by PTI.

Surjewala, who is also Congress’ general secretary, said that Chouhan and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia “schemed” to push their “arch rival” Union ministers into the poll fray, adding that “the Chouhan-Scindia duo have scripted a movie titled Hum To Dubenge Sanam Tumko Bhi Le Dubenge [We are drowning, we will take you along].”

With inputs from agencies