With the name of Madhya Pradesh’s next Chief Minister to be finalised on Monday when the BJP’s central observers will attend its legislature party meeting, the incumbent CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan continued his political outreach, looking ahead to the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
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On Saturday, Mr. Chouhan visited the North Bhopal Assembly constituency, a seat that the BJP last won in 1993. “The Congress lost due to its arrogance and dishonesty. They came for 15 months and made false promises without fulfilling them. As they did not provide and relief or facility, the public this time decided that it will put its trust in Modi and Mama,” he said at a rally.
“The trust of the public is with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. With the blessings of the public, ‘Mission-29’ will be successful and we will make Modi ji the Prime Minister again by winning all the 29 Lok Sabha seats of Madhya Pradesh,” Mr. Chouhan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
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Ambiguous post
The incumbent CM also posted his own picture on X, with the caption reading “Sabhi ko Ram Ram (Ram Ram to all). The post was, however, later deleted, fuelling speculation amid the suspense over the CM name.
The BJP on Friday appointed Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, the party’s OBC Morcha chief K. Lakshman, and Ranchi Mayor Asha Lakra as its central observers. The three leaders will attend the meeting of the BJP’s newly elected MLAs where the decision on the next CM will be taken. The meeting will take place at 4 p.m. on Monday.
Multiple contenders
Apart from Mr. Chouhan, who has held the top post in the State since 2005, barring a 15-month period between 2018 and 2020, many other BJP leaders are considered contenders for the top post. They include Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Union Ministers Prahlad Singh Patel and Narendra Singh Tomar who recently resigned as MPs following their wins in the Assembly polls, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, and State unit chief V.D. Sharma.
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Barring Mr. Sharma and Mr. Scindia, all other leaders had contested the Assembly polls as part of the BJP’s collective leadership strategy. The BJP won 163 seats with the Congress only managing 66 seats.
Ever since the BJP fielded so many senior leaders in the Assembly polls, the State’s political scene has been abuzz with speculation that the party might be looking at a new line of leadership in Madhya Pradesh. The party did not project Mr. Chouhan as its face this time around.
Credit to women voters
Earlier in the day, Mr. Chouhan met a Muslim woman from Sehore, Samina Bi, who was allegedly beaten up by a family member for voting for the BJP. “I have directed the officials to take appropriate action in this regard. The victim sister will also be given complete security and financial help. My sister, don’t worry about anything, your brother is always with you,” he wrote on X.
While many contenders for the top post have visited Delhi to meet the party’s central leaders, Mr. Chouhan has stayed put and carried out his outreach programme in various parts of the State.
In all of his events since the December 3 results, Mr. Chouhan has credited the party’s win to the State’s women voters wooed by his government’s women-centric welfare schemes such as the Ladli Behna and Ladli Lakshmi schemes. The move is also being seen as a message to the party about his popularity among women in the State, which might benefit the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.