Explainer: BJP and the art of springing a surprise

Tribune Web Desk

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, December 12

On Monday, the BJP continued with its trademark ‘art of springing a surprise’ when it selected a barely known Mohan Yadav as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Before this, the only time Yadav had made some headlines was in 2021 when as the state’s Higher Education Minister he proposed to make Ramcharitmanas an optional subject in colleges.

Now, observers can dissect and analyse the purpose of selecting Yadav, an OBC, by citing reasons like “enacting a generational shift”, “easing out undesirable state leadership”, impacting Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where his community is a dominant factor, etc., a fact, however, is the decision came as a huge surprise even to his closest associates.

The OBC segment constitutes 48 % of MP’s population and the man Yadav replaced—Shivraj Singh Chouhan—also belongs to the community. Since 2003, all three of the BJP’s CMs in MP—Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur, and Chouhan—have been OBCs.

Yadav first became Ujjain South MLA in 2013, before which he was the Chairman of the MP Tourism Development Corporation between 2011 and 2013.

Springing a surprise 

It was only after his selection that Yadav’s “deep ties with the RSS” became talk of the town. In fact, the announcement of his name even left some well-informed TV anchors and journalists stumped. Yadav may have been a “favourite of Sangh” but then there are many who can claim similar credentials in the state known as the ‘garh’ of the BJP’s ideological fountainhead, say observers 

BJP leaders say that what the senior leadership has been aiming for is a generational shift to infuse newness and freshness in the three key Hindi heartland states ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year. The aim is also to give representation to all sections—women, tribals, OBCs and upper castes, they add.

However, the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his closest lieutenant Amit Shah is known to spring many surprises, whether it is the selection of a Chief Minister or the President of the country. Reporters covering the party always say that only two persons in the party—PM Modi and Shah—know the exact position, the rest all is speculation.

Contininuing with the messaging that any hardworking karyakarta can get the top post, a day later the party announced Bhajan Lal Sharma, a first-time MLA, as it's CM designate for Rajasthan.

The past surprises

When BJP chose Om Birla to head the Lok Sabha affairs in 2019, it came as a huge surprise to those expecting some known face. To be elected the Speaker of the Lok Sabha in the second term of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a major landmark in the political career of the two-time Lok Sabha member representing the Kota parliamentary constituency since 2014.

Birla’s steady rise was attributed to various reasons, including PM Modi’s trust in him and his closeness to the party’s ideological fountainhead RSS.

The other surprises include Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana, Pushkar Dhami in Uttarakhand and Bhupendrabhai Patel in Gujarat.

Patel was unanimously elected as the BJP legislative party leader in September 2021 in a meeting where he was said to be sitting on one of the back seats. 

Observers say whether former president Ram Nath Kovind or the current first citizen of the country Droupadi Murmu, the BJP’s selections have been guided by factors like signalling and making an impact, identity politics and building Brand Modi.

Complete trust and faith

The selection also signals the complete trust and faith placed in that person by the people who matter in the BJP.

Observers say it is not about the traditional way of rewarding a leader as followed by parties like the Congress but broader aspects of firming up Brand Modi while working around identity politics to boost the party. “Such decisions can only be taken by very strong leaders like PM Modi. Earlier, they were seen in the era of late PM Indira Gandhi”, they add.      

And, what about the future of leaders left on the sidelines?

Well, before they became the CM, how many people knew Chouhan, Raman Singh, or for that matter, Yogi Adityanath.

It is the party which is supreme.

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