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Despite pressure from sections within its state units, the national leadership of the BJP appears firm about going ahead with its strategy of “collective leadership” in poll-bound Rajasthan, while sticking to the existing leadership in Madhya Pradesh, where it is the ruling party.
BJP national president J P Nadda, who will visit Rajasthan on Saturday, is expected to discuss strategies and assign responsibilities to leaders at different levels, to prepare the state unit for the fierce electoral battle it expects to face later this year, said sources.
During his day-long Jaipur visit, Nadda is expected to chair several core committee meetings of the party. Earlier this month, he had visited the state to launch the party’s new campaign slogan ‘Nahin sahega Rajasthan (Rajasthan won’t endure this)’.
The central leadership has been trying to bring together the BJP’s Rajasthan unit, which is ridden with internal rifts, even as its most prominent leader and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje awaits a final word on who would be the party’s face in the forthcoming elections, in which the BJP will take on a formidable Congress led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The central leadership has so far maintained that the BJP would go with a collective leadership in the state, while pitching Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face to lead the Assembly poll fight.
However, sources said Raje has repeatedly conveyed that the central leadership should clarify its position with regards to her role in the elections. Leaders close to Raje keep saying that no other state leader can match her “popularity and acceptability” among the people. Top sources in the BJP, though, said the central leadership is yet to take a final call on whether it would highlight any particular face from the state – indicating that the person would have the highest claim on the CM post in case the party wins – or collective leadership.
“We will take a decision by the first week of August. Now, it’s time to assign responsibilities,” said the source. The party leadership is expected to assess the advantages and disadvantages of having a single leader as its face. Sources indicated that given Raje’s influence, the leadership is mulling over giving her a prominent role, but is still hesitant about declaring her as its CM candidate.
In Madhya Pradesh, the party leadership has made it clear that CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan will continue to be the face, although the campaign would be led by the collective leadership of Chouhan, state unit chief V D Sharma and Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who was recently appointed the convenor of the state Election Management Committee.
Party sources confirm that while Nadda will directly oversee the BJP’s election preparations in Rajasthan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will monitor the electioneering in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Both leaders will together oversee preparations in Telangana, another poll-bound state.
Keeping in view the fierce battle expected in Rajasthan, the BJP leadership has scaled up its activities in the state. PM Modi, on Thursday, launched a scathing attack on the Congress government, while inaugurating several development projects in the state.
The central leadership recently appointed Union minister Prahlad Joshi as the party in-charge of Rajasthan. Former Gujarat deputy CM Nitin Patel and former Haryana Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, who joined the BJP in August last year, have been appointed co-in-charges. Union Minister and senior party leader Bhupender Yadav has been given charge of the Madhya Pradesh elections, while his ministerial colleague Ashwini Vaishnaw will be his assistant.
