Although the outcome of the by-elections will not impact the power balance in Madhya Pradesh, many believe it will have a bearing on the fate of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. After a defeat in the Damoh bypoll early this year, political analysts claim that Chouhan is under pressure to perform well in four by-polls and exhibit his ‘magic’ which he enjoyed for years.
There is, however, no immediate threat to the current CM, at least till the UP assembly polls as the party is not in a mood to send out a risky message to voters by removing Chouhan who has been a poster boy for OBC classes for years, said a senior political editor wishing anonymity.
This is why the party is cautious about Chouhan who also doesn’t come with an RSS background.
A section of the BJP also believes that the vibes against Chouhan are still not so strong within the party but an adverse performance could well push the chief minister to the brink. However, the party is in general of the view that it will be too early for the leadership to hand over the mantle to the new entrant –Jyotiraditya Scindia — who also does not appear to be in any hurry.
“The party cadre will take a while to embrace Scindia’s leadership after he fully imbibes the BJP-RSS ideology,” said a senior RSS functionary in the state. One of Scindia’s aides also affirmed that right now the leader is focusing on serving the public.
Leaders like Narendra Singh Tomar, Narottam Mishra and Prahlad Patel are in the hunt as leadership change theories are flying around in the state for a while.
No wonder Chouhan had roped in 40 senior leaders, including a dozen cabinet minister in addition to five MPs and 25 organisational functionaries. Even UP Dy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya was roped in for Prithvipur constituency in Tikamgarh which shares proximity to Uttar Pradesh.
An untiring leader who remains on the ground on any given day for almost 16 years, Chouhan, the lone surviving CM of the LK Advani-Atal Bihari Vajpayee era’, has definitely pushed his limits in the bypoll campaigning.
On the other hand, for the Congress the bypolls are an ideal opportunity to rejuvenate and score a moral win ahead of 2023. The party which had been aggressive on the ground was marred by defectors after ex-MLA Sulochna Rawat and sitting MLA Sachin Birla quit after internal bickering in the bypolls.
With inputs from News18
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