BJP MPs contesting state polls indicates tough battle, cut in stature, challengers for state satraps

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

MPs in the ensuing assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh has set off a buzz in party circles and beyond that the aim is not just to win “tough seats” but there are more serious factors at play. This may be the party high command’s attempt to downsize some of them while others may emerge as challengers for established state satraps in the saffron fold.

In Madhya Pradesh, union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Patel as well as BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya are seen as probable replacements for chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in case the party gets another term.

Tomar, in the fray from Dimani seat in Morena district, is a prominent Thakur leader from the Gwalior-Chambal region who has held several important posts in the state unit and is a union cabinet minister.

Patel, like former chief minister Uma Bharti, belongs to the Lodh community and with all three BJP CMs coming from the OBC segment, his supporters fancy his chances. Vijayvargiya was virtually the number 2 in Chouhan’s cabinet at one point and hence would be in the reckoning for the CM post.

However, there is also a view that the seven MPs have been fielded to confine them to state politics.

Vijayvargiya, who was active as general secretary in-charge of Haryana and West Bengal in the past, has already expressed his “surprise” at being fielded from Indore-1 seat. His son Akash is sitting MLA from Indore-3 seat and is likely to be denied a ticket under BJP’s policy of fielding only one member from a family.

Indore-1 seat is not seen as a difficult seat for Vijayvargiya.

His likely rival and sitting Congress MLA Sanjay Shukla has grown as a politician under Vijayvargiya’s shadow. The BJP general secretary has