AMID speculation over the new governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, as many as 10 members of Parliament who have fought and won the recent Assembly elections resigned as MPs. These included two Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Patel – an indication that they could join the new government in Madhya Pradesh. Two others, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh and Mahant Balaknath, are also expected to quit, party leaders said, as the BJP has decided that all the 12 MPs who fought the recent elections will be in the state assemblies. Other MPs who quit are: Rakesh Singh, Uday Pratap Singh and Riti Pathak from Madhya Pradesh; Kirodi Lal Meena, Diya Kumari and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from Rajasthan; and Gomati Sai and Arun Sao from Chhattisgarh. The nine MPs, who went to speaker Om Birla to put in their papers, were accompanied by BJP President J P Nadda. Meena is a Rajya Sabha member. Although there were a series of backroom meetings including one between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, party sources said no clear indication is available on who will lead the governments in the three states where the BJP got resounding victories. The BJP had gone into the elections without announcing a Chief Minister candidate and had fought the electoral battle citing Prime Minister Modi's leadership. Among the three states, the party had a government in Madhya Pradesh, which was led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The delay in the announcement of the new CMs - despite the emphatic wins - has set off speculation that the national leadership could be looking for major changes factoring in the imperative to maintain the clean sweep in the Lok Sabha elections barely five months away. Significantly, when 18 MPs were fielded in the Assembly elections in these three states – six lost - the party leadership had mentioned that it wanted a fresh crop of leaders in the next Lok Sabha too. Sources said the BJP leadership will appoint observers for each state who would be present in the first meeting of the legislative party in the respective state and are expected to, subsequently, announce the CM name. The scale of the victories has given room to the party leadership to effect significant changes towards bringing in a new line of leadership to the fore in these states considered to be strong bastions for the BJP. Many in the party pointed out that Chouhan’s popular welfare schemes have, indeed, played a role in the BJP's stunning victory in Madhya Pradesh. However, they were not ready to share the credit for the party’s win in Rajasthan with former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Sources pointed out that Raje's meeting with more than two dozen elected MLAs in the national capital was also “not taken kindly” by the leadership as it was seen as a bid to “mobilise numbers to stake claim for the top post.” Raje is a two-term former CM but hasm’t enjoyed warm ties with the current national leadership. With Tomar, a strong organisation man believed to enjoy the confidence of the Prime Minister; and Patel, who belongs to the Lodh OBC community, quitting from the Lok Sabha, their names have also joined the list of possible CM choices for Madhya Pradesh. Similarly, Sao, an OBC, and Sai, who comes from a Scheduled Tribe, are seen as serious contenders due to their social background, image and relatively young profile. As Modi highlights his focus on women, youth, poor and farmers, many are looking at Renuka Singh, too, as a possible choice. “Their names come up as possible choices as there is a strong feeling that Chhattisgarh needs a generation shift in the state unit,” said a party leader from the state.
