Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday wrote a letter to the people of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh in an attempt to make a direct connect with voters by saying that their vote will work as “direct support” to him at the Centre.
The letter was made public by BJP State unit president and parliamentarian V.D. Sharma at a press conference in Bhopal by saying “chitthi aayi hai [a letter has arrived]”.
The letter is in line with the BJP’s campaign slogan ‘Modi Ke Mann Me Basey M.P., M.P. Ke Mann Me Modi [M.P. lies in Modi’s heart, Modi in M.P.’s heart]’, which was launched in August and has since established the party’s strategy that this time it is going to polls with Mr. Modi’s face alone, unlike the previous three Assembly polls where it had openly declared the incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as its candidate for the top post. However, in the last 2018 elections, the party lost to the Congress and could only manage 109 seats.
This time around, the BJP’s changed strategy has been visible throughout the campaign, in speeches of its leaders, in their responses to the question over the Chief Minister’s face, in the 230 hi-tech campaign vehicles that were launched on Thursday by Mr. Chouhan and Mr. Sharma, and on hoardings that can be seen on all roads and junctions of Bhopal.
Under the tagline ‘M.P. Ke Mann Me Modi’, the hoardings have Mr. Modi in focus with a large picture while Mr. Chouhan’s picture now among 10 other party leaders, including national president J.P. Nadda, Mr. Sharma, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Singh Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste, and BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who have been fielded in the Assembly polls and seen among Chief Minister post probables, also feature in the same line.
Emotional speeches
Mr. Chouhan himself had kept the speculations running for a while with his emotional speeches and attempts to strike an emotional chord with the voters. In one speech in his traditional constituency Budhni earlier this month, he had said, “Sisters, you will not find a brother like this. When I leave, you will miss me.” He has now been fielded from his seat.
Even as BJP leaders say that the party is going ahead with collective leadership this time, speculations have been abuzz in the State about a possible change of face even if the BJP retains power in the State it has ruled for over 18 years in the past 20 years, with Mr. Chouhan as its Chief Minister for more than 16 years.
Party insiders and polls observers point out multiple reasons that propelled the ruling party to resort to going ahead with the Prime Minister’s face and even fielding Union Ministers and MPs, mainly to dilute the impact of anti-incumbency, tackle the factionalism and discontent against Mr. Chouhan in the State unit and to create a momentum ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
A State BJP leader explained that the move was necessary as multiple surveys had showed anti-incumbency and fatigue among voters.
“Our surveys revealed that a perception had been built among the people that he [Mr. Chouhan] has been there for a long time. Despite the Chief Minister and the government having done well, a fatigue got built. The new generation also wanted a fresh face,” the leader said, requesting anonymity. He said the party high command was also keen to develop a new leadership in the State.
He said many contemporaries of Mr. Chouhan had also been “waiting for their turn”.
“Now, most of them are in the poll fray. So, going with collective leadership has energised them too,” he added.
The BJP leader also said that the party did not want to take any risk before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “This is why the Prime Minister is our face in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. An unfavourable result might discourage the party cadre before the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.
Senior journalist and poll observer Girija Shankar told The Hindu, “They are focusing on the Prime Minister because they have started preparing for 2024 polls. They want to create a momentum from now itself.”
Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi, however, said the party was not ignoring any leader.
“We have one motto: naam kamal, nishan kamal and pehchan kamal [our name, symbol and identity is lotus — the party symbol]. It is wrong to say that the Chief Minister is being ignored. Every BJP worker is working under one leadership to ensure the party’s victory,” Mr. Chaturvedi said.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress, campaigning aggressively to wrest back power in the State, has not left a chance to grab a chance to attack the BJP and take potshots at Mr. Chouhan.
Responding to Mr. Chouhan’s recent remarks that he is a phoenix who rises from ashes, Congress’ chief ministerial candidate Kamal Nath had claimed that it was a message to his own party. “He should say this to the BJP. It’s not for me,” Mr. Nath had said.
A source in the Congress also revealed that the party had passed on this message that Mr. Chouhan will not return as Chief Minister to the section of voters on whom he has a strong hold.
“Our volunteers took this message to voters, especially women to tell them that even if the BJP wins, Shivraj ji is not coming back. This gave us an edge because we have projected a face which has gained its credibility,” the leader said.
