Why BJP chose fresh CM faces ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections
(This story originally appeared in on Dec 12, 2023)
NEW DELHI: When it comes to deciding chief ministers, the BJP has a knack of springing up surprises. This round of assembly elections was no different, with the saffron party going for a new line of leadership in all the three states it won — Mohan Yadav in Madhya Pradesh, Bhajan Lal Sharma in Rajasthan and Vishnu Deo Sai in Chhattisgarh.
The top contenders in these states — Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh, Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan and Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh were ignored for the top job. All three are former chief ministers with Shivraj and Raman Singh serving three terms in their respective states while Raje being a two-time chief minister of Rajasthan.
The BJP did give out a subtle message to these former chief ministers as it kept its options open heading into the assembly elections. First, the party did not declare any chief ministerial candidate in the states and instead focussed on Prime Minister Modi and his guarantees as the central theme of its campaign. Second, the BJP as a part of its strategy made several MPs contest the elections in the three states.
However, the changes this time around are part of the BJP's larger strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has tried to balance caste equations in its top picks for these states and in the process checkmate opposition's plan to use caste as a weapon in the upcoming national elections. In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the BJP has also announced two deputy chief ministers possibly in a bid to balance the representation of various caste groups in the new government. In Chhattisgarh, the choice of a tribal as chief minister reflects the party's continued outreach to the community.
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