Among the three States that the BJP lost in the 2018 set of Assembly polls, the loss of Chhattisgarh rankled the most, as the defeat there, unlike Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, was more of a rout. Ever since then, the party has been on the lookout for a way back into electoral favour, including the search for a new leader in the State, which this time around appears to be devolving around candidates from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community.
According to senior sources in the party, the loss to the Congress has led to a radical set of measures being taken in terms of organisational thinking. “Immediately after the loss of 2018, we had the general election in 2019, where the BJP changed all 11 of its candidates and managed to win nine out of the 11. This also led to some rethink on the question of leadership going up to the next Assembly polls,” said the source.
BJP’s national general secretary in charge of Chhattisgarh, D. Purandareshwari, and joint general secretary (organisation) Shiv Prakash have made multiple visits to Chhattisgarh, with senior party leaders in the State noticing that leaders of the OBC community being given attention.
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Ajay Chandrakar, MLA, is one of the leaders being paid close attention to as he is active in the Assembly and outspoken. Former IAS officer O.P. Chaudhary, who took premature retirement from the civil services to fight and lose the 2018 polls on a BJP ticket, is also active in the interiors of the State, and is being groomed for an important role going ahead. In Chhattisgarh, OBCs comprise nearly 50% of the vote, with Mr. Chaudhary belonging to the dominant Aghariya community among them. Mr. Chandrakar has been a minister in former Chief Minister Raman Singh’s government. Leader of the opposition Dharam Lal Kaushik, belonging to the Kurmi community, forms the third part of this triumvirate of leadership being pushed by Delhi.
In fact, the senior leadership of the party made it clear that the next polls may not be fought around one face, a development that many have taken to mean that it is the end of the road for Mr. Raman Singh.
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Senior party leaders in Chhattisgarh said its rout in the State was analysed in Delhi and Raipur, and while anti-incumbency against a third-term government was considered one of the main reasons for the loss, the fact that the party drew a blank on OBC support attracted to the Congress due to its promise of bonus payment on grain procurement and the leadership of Bhupesh Baghel belonging to an OBC group was also an important factor.
The recent Cabinet reshuffle with emphasis on inclusion of many faces from the OBC communities, coupled with the demand from various parties for a caste census and the lifting of the cap for reservation from the current 50%, seem to have also converged with the BJP’s political reading in Chhattisgarh, with the party hoping that one of its OBC faces may click with people.