What has happened in BJP internally in past six months is somewhat of a rarity under Modi-Shah’s leadership: Analysis

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 14

What has happened in the BJP in the past six months is somewhat of a rarity in the party running under the immaculate control of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

The leadership which almost never replaced any chief minister (even in Jharkhand where sentiments were clearly against incumbent CM Raghubar Das in 2019) has changed four chief ministers in the past six months. 

While Gujarat’s Vijay Rupani became the fourth BJP CM to resign after Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tirath Singh Rawat in Uttarakhand and BS Yediyurappa in Karnataka, the buzz is there might be “a couple of more changes” in days to come depending upon the situation.

What is even more surprising is the choice of replacements, largely “second-rung leaders”, “back benchers in the state assemblies” as some said in case of new Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel.

While the change has obviously been prompted by the need to win a poll-bound state with enough time to recover lost ground, the choice of CM has left baffled even those familiar with Modi-Shah’s “out of box decisions and ability to surprise”. 

Observers say the reason for extra focus on states now is simple. While earlier PM Modi and Shah were concentrating on organisation, now they are focusing on states. “You first put your house in order,” they say.

A second-rung leader makes control easier for those sitting in Delhi instead of some well-entrenched politician with his or her own baggage, followers and adversaries.

“Besides, PM Modi likes to give opportunities to new leaders,” they add.

Moreover, whether Pushkar Dhami in Uttarakhand or Bhupendra Patel in Gujarat, they fulfil basic requirements of the party ahead of the election campaign in their respective states which in any case will be formulated and led by PM Modi and Shah.

Whether they will help undo some of the anti-incumbency in favour of the BJP is a new experiment that the central leadership appears to be performing.  

In any case, the leadership is clear that those who create “trouble by poking or continuously raising issues which eventually lead to the ouster of any CM should not be encouraged by giving them posts they have been vying for”, a signal perhaps to many in similar situations in other states.