BJP has plan to shift Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje to Centre?

New Delhi: The high-profile chief ministers of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje, may be moved to the Centre regardless of the outcome of the Assembly elections due to be held in the two states later this year. Sources said both chief ministers could possibly be inducted into the Narendra Modi Cabinet.

Sources said that following high anti-incumbency and due to loss of popularity in their respective states, the saffron party leadership has decided to move them away from state politics. The results of the recent byelections in both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which were won by the Congress, have indicated the declining graph of Mr Chouhan and Ms Raje, saffron spin doctors claim. However, fearing a rebellion, particularly by Ms Raje and her supporters, the party has decided to defer the change of guard in Rajasthan at this juncture.

A section of Rajasthan BJP leaders have approached the top party leadership to replace Ms Raje before the state Assembly elections. It may be recalled that last month the leader of the BJP’s OBC wing in Kota, Ashok Choudhary, had petitioned party president Amit Shah to change the state leadership if the party wanted to retain power in the Rajasthan. However, the fear that Ms Raje may have the capability to “split” the party if removed as CM has forced the BJP to continue with her, a senior party leader claimed.

In Madhya Pradesh, an RSS old guard, Mr Suryakant Kelkar, has gone on record as saying: “The BJP’s defeat in the Kolaras and Mungaoli bypolls was a result of anti-incumbency.” Mr Kelkar, who was once reportedly Mr Chouhan’s mentor, said that the “BJP needs to change the face of the government in Madhya Pradesh”. For him, “one person being in power for a long period results in a dip in the popularity of the government”.

With the popularity of both these chief ministers at their nadir and the Congress winning one byelection after another, all BJP state units have been asked to seek “votes in Narendra Modi’s name”.

While the top BJP leadership and the RSS are reportedly “not too pleased” with Ms Raje, the saffron spin doctors continue to “have some faith in Chouhan’s capability to pull through”, a party source said. A senior RSS leader told this newspaper: “Chouhan is reeling under anti-incumbency, yet we have no other leader to match his stature. If anyone can retain the state for the party, only Chouhan can.”