The BJP high command is going to make some surprising decisions during ticket distribution in poll-bound states. The leadership may repeat the experiment of Gujarat. To begin with, indications are that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and senior ministers may be denied tickets in Madhya Pradesh, which will upset the Congress’ strategy.
Congress has so far been targeting Shivraj Singh Chouhan during the poll campaign.
This kind of experiment may be done in Rajasthan as well. Former CM Vasundhara Raje and several other former ministers and MLAs might be asked to fight the Lok Sabha polls instead of assembly elections, while several Union ministers and Members of Parliament may be asked to contest assembly polls.
Raje has already said that she is not ready to leave Rajasthan. According to the sources, Raje’s son Dushyant Singh has offered to fight the assembly election in Rajasthan.
In another significant move, the BJP is planning to give tickets to a large number of women, especially after the women’s reservation bill is passed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is himself looking after electoral matters related to MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Sources say K Chandrashekar Rao’s party BRS, and BJP will be in a friendly contest in Telangana to pave the way for Rao to retain the state. The BJP has already started various experiments in Madhya Pradesh. If Shivraj Singh, State BJP president BD Sharma and ministers are denied tickets, they will be asked to be ready to fight Lok Sabha elections.
The high command may bet on 8-10 MPs in Rajasthan. This will pave the way for the emergence of a new leadership. Moreover, some new faces will get an opportunity in central politics. Those who may be fielded in the assembly elections include Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Kailash Chaudhary. Others whose names are doing the rounds for being fielded in the assembly polls include MPs PP Chaudhary, Diya Kumari, Ranjita Rawat, Mahant Balak Nath, Dushyant Singh, Ramcharan Vohra and CP Joshi.
The party will send a message that the leader who helps the BJP bag the maximum number of seats will be made the Chief Minister. This way all the leaders will remain united.
All heavyweights will be sending out messages in their assembly segments that they run the chance of becoming the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. This is how they might draw good support from voters.
Such a scenario will then pose a challenge to Congress. Congress is saying that the BJP is doing due to fear of an imminent defeat. Congress leader Dharmendra Rathore says that the BJP is going to face a big defeat in Rajasthan no matter what they do.