MP Election 2023: For Divided BJP, Soft Hindutva, Anti-Graft Plank Of Congress Real Challenge

New Delhi: The BJP, which lost to the Kamal Nath-Digvijay Singh-Jyotiraditya Scindia (he was with the Congress then) triumvirate in the 2018 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, is making a high pitch this time. Before the Karnataka Assembly elections, it was said that the BJP high command has planned major changes in the state, but after the crushing defeat in the southern state, there has been a slight break in the plan.

However, the final decision of the BJP high command regarding Madhya Pradesh is still awaited as the party is yet to appoint a new chief in the state. Party leaders are curiously waiting to see who will be given what responsibility in the state. The internal rift within the organisation remains a big challenge for the ruling BJP.

On the strength of Scindia and his loyalist MLAs who defected to the BJP, the saffron party retained power in the state in 2020 and Shivraj Singh Chouhan became the Chief Minister by toppling the Congress government. However, more than half of these Scindia loyalists are now considering returning to Congress. Even Scindia supporters have started leaving the BJP. On many seats, confrontations are erupting between the current MLA of the Scindia faction and the established old leaders of the BJP.

Although, according to a senior BJP strategist, in-fighting between party leaders or ticket aspirants is not a big problem, the real challenge for the BJP is the tall promises being made by Kamal Nath and other Congress leaders as these promises and guarantees have helped the grand old party in sweeping the Karnataka polls.

The new Congress led by Kamal Nath is different from Digvijay Singh`s Congress. The soft Hindutva approach of Congress is also increasing troubles for the saffron party.

Priyanka Gandhi recently started her election tour of Madhya Pradesh by worshipping Narmada and making it clear that the Congress high command is also standing with Kamal Nath`s strategy on the issue of soft Hindutva. The way Congress successfully convinced the people of Karnataka about the corruption allegations against the BJP, on the same lines, it is trying to surround the Shivraj government by raising the corruption issue in Madhya Pradesh.

However, BJP does not want to lose a big state like Madhya Pradesh under any circumstances. That`s why Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J.P. Nadda are going to exert all their efforts in the state. The BJP will try to create an electoral atmosphere in its favour in the state on the strength of its most popular face - Prime Minister Modi.

Besides this, Shah will play a big role in finalising the election strategy and selecting candidates while Nadda will try to create mutual coordination among all the senior leaders of the state. Chief Minister Chouhan recently came to Delhi and shared all the information regarding the political situation in the state with Amit Shah.

It is being said that during the meeting, Shah gave several important instructions to Chouhan in view of the Assembly elections. The BJP has won three consecutive Assembly polls - in 2003, 2008 and 2013 - in the state. But in the last elections held in 2018, the Congress had thrown the BJP out of power.

In 2018, the Congress had given a major political blow to the BJP by forming the government with the help of other parties, winning 114 of the total 230 seats.
 After losing the election, the BJP made Chouhan the national vice president of the party. But after 15 months, the rebellion of Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and his 22 loyalist MLAs led to the toppling of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government. Considering the then political situation, the BJP high command sent Chouhan back to Bhopal and made him the Chief Minister.

However, along with this, the saffron party has been making sporadic changes in the state. On 15 February 2020, a month before Kamal Nath was toppled in March 2020, BJP appointed Lok S`bha MP Vishnu Dutt Sharma as the party`s state chief, whose three-year term has ended and now the search for a new state president is on.

Last year, in March 2022,`the BJP made a major change in the party`s state organisation and appointed Hitanand Sharma as the new General Secretary (Organisation) of the state BJP by sending Suhas Bhagat back to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.