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BJP to pick Rajasthan CM day after generational shift in Madhya Pradesh
BJP lawmakers have been meeting former chief minister Vasundhara Raje Raje amid speculation about the contenders for the state’s top elected post
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was on Tuesday expected to pick the new Rajasthan chief minister a day after the party implemented a generational shift in Madhya Pradesh. It named three-time lawmaker Mohan Yadav, 58, as the chief minister, replacing Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who ruled the central Indian state for 16 of the last 18 years over four terms.
In Chhattisgarh, the third heartland state where the BJP stormed to power on December 1, the party named experienced tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai as the chief minister.
The BJP’s legislature party meeting in Rajasthan was scheduled for 4pm to pick the new chief minister in the presence of central observers including Union minister Rajnath Singh.
BJP lawmakers have been meeting former chief minister Vasundhara Raje Raje amid speculation about the contenders for the state’s top elected post. BJP leader Rajendra Rathore on Monday said there is no tradition of showing strength in the party and that lawmakers meet senior leaders to exchange wishes.
In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP also picked two deputy chief ministers, Jagdish Devda, and Rajendra Shukla. Former Union agriculture minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, who won the polls from Dimni in Morena district and resigned from the Lok Sabha last week, was named as the new speaker of the assembly.
Yadav is among the other backward class faces in the state unit, representing the key swing region of Malwa-Nimar, where the BJP won 47 of 66 seats. His elevation is seen as a major shift in the BJP in a state where Chouhan was once seen as the face of the party with a focus on farmers and welfare outreach.
A strong votary of hardline Hindu politics, Yadav has headed the state wrestling association since 2009 and is also the vice-president of the state Olympics association. Yadav has courted controversy with his remarks on Mughal rulers, suggesting they were invaders who should not be referred to as “great”.
With the appointment of the two deputies, the BJP attempted to balance representation to four important regions — Malwa-Nimar, Vindhya, and Gwalior-Chambal — and three key castes. Devda is the Dalit face of the party while Shukla is a Brahmin and Tomar a Rajput.
Before the legislature party meeting on Monday, the observers met Chouhan at his official residence for over an hour and then attended the BJP’s core group meeting at the party office in Bhopal. HT reported Yadav was called to Delhi on December 6 for a meeting with BJP chief JP Nadda and asked to prepare for a big responsibility.
The BJP fought the latest round of elections without projecting chief ministerial faces for the first time in nearly two decades. It focussed on collective leadership.
The consolidation of the tribal vote was among the key reasons behind Sai’s elevation in Chhattisgarh, where the BJP won 54 of the 90 seats and wrested power from the Congress. Of the 29 reserved seats for scheduled tribes, the BJP won 17, up from the three it won in 2018.
Tribals account for over 30% of the state’s population. Sai is from the Kanwar tribe, the second largest grouping after the Gonds.
