Bulldozer doesn’t work for BJP in Madhya Pradesh, state leaders tell top brass

Sources in the party’s state unit said a section of leaders has expressed this view in a recent meeting with BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh in which the party assessed the outcome of its attempts to regain the support base among the SCs and STs, two significant electorate that helped the BJP’s15-year uninterrupted rule in the state since 2003.

After the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government had drawn some applause for using bulldozers to maintain law and order, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also allowed bulldozers to demolish houses and properties of alleged stone pelters. The move had earned Chouhan the image of “Bulldozer Mama” on the lines of Yogi Adityanath’s “Bulldozer Baba”. BJP assessed that Adityanath’s “bold image in keeping a good law and order record” had helped it return to power.

However, in MP, where Hindus constitute over 90 per cent of the population and Muslims are around seven per cent, “bulldozer” politics does not work, party leaders said. “Hindu-Muslim politics has not been an issue in the state, but caste politics works more deeply here,” said a BJP leader.

After Khargone communal clashes authrorities demolished 49 Muslim houses, some of which were constructed under PM Awas Yojana. The incident made a number of SC/ ST organisations call for a united opposition apprehending similar fate for their communities.

Widespread unhappiness among small tribal and Dalit organisations had disrupted BJP’s attempts to woo back both the communities into its fold.