Today in Politics: BJP set to pick Rajasthan CM, will it be another new face at the helm?

Raje unarguably remains the party’s tallest leader in the state. But during the poll campaign, the focus was not on her as the party contested on a “collective leadership” model in a campaign run by the central leadership. But if Shivraj Singh Chouhan could not become the CM for a fifth term despite his popularity and the popularity of his government’s welfare schemes, will Raje be able to land the top job? She first became the CM in 2003 and then again in 2013, before Narendra Modi and Amit Shah took charge of the party.

The upshot: The political signalling in the BJP’s CM choices is interesting to note. In Chhattisgarh, it chose Sai, an Adivasi from the Gond community in the Surguja tribal belt, as the CM. While this could be read as the party’s attempt to take forward its Adivasi outreach, by appointing Mohan Yadav the BJP not only makes another Other Backward Class (OBC) leader the CM of Madhya Pradesh (all its previous choices have been OBCs, though from non-Yadav groups) but it also makes a strong pitch to Yadavs in the Hindi belt, an OBC group where it has not been able to consolidate till now, write Vikas Pathak and Liz Mathew.

So, with a message sent to Yadav OBCs and Scheduled Tribes (STs), will Dalits be next? When asked about the possibility of Rajasthan getting a Dalit CM, Rajnath Singh on Monday told reporters to keep patience, saying, “Everything will be revealed tomorrow.” In any event, like in MP and Chhattisgarh, the party will have to strike a caste balance formula with its choices of Deputy CM and Speaker. In Rajasthan, the Jat, Rajput, and Meena communities are among the most powerful. But as Liz Mathew explained last week, the BJP may not want to appoint a Rajput upper-caste leader as CM.

Recommended reading:

• MP CM picked, the wait outside and inside 13, Civil Lines, Jaipur
• In Rajasthan, these leaders may be frontrunners in the CM race

Meanwhile, in Jharkhand

With Hemant Soren summoned for deposition at the Enforcement Directorate’s regional office in Ranchi on Tuesday, the BJP has again found a line of attack against the Jharkhand CM whose party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is part of the INDIA alliance of Opposition parties. The ED has summoned Soren in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

While Jharkhand BJP chief Babulal Marandi urged Governor C P Radhakrishnan to sack Soren if he did not abide by the law and record his statement before the ED, the Governor said Raj Bhavan was evaluating the Election Commission’s recommendation in an office-of-profit case against the CM over the extension of a mining lease to him. The poll panel had sent its opinion to the Raj Bhavan in August 2022 on a petition seeking Soren’s disqualification in the case. The CM has alleged that efforts are being made to tarnish the image of his government using central probe agencies.

On PM’s schedule

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi around 5 pm. The GPAI is a 29-nation initiative to bridge the gap between theory and practice on artificial intelligence by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.

India is the lead chair of GPAI in 2024 and the summit will go on till December 14. Multiple sessions on subjects such as AI and global health, education and skilling, AI and data governance, and ML Workshop are on the schedule. India has said it will strive for a consensus-based “declaration document” on the approach to AI and mitigating risks.

— With PTI inputs