Bhopal, Dec 17 – Most of the BJP stalwarts who were fielded in the recently-concluded Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh have won from their constituencies. Now that the central leadership has chosen Mohan Yadav as the Chief Minister, the old guard is now racing to get a place in the state Cabinet.
The senior-most among them, former Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, was made the Assembly Speaker. However, the fate of the others who were made to return to the state’s politics is yet to be decided.
This includes the BJP’s National Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, former Union Minister Prahlad Patel and ex-MP Rakesh Singh, who won the Assembly election from Jabalpur South.
There is a murmur in the political circles of the state that a couple of them are likely to be given Lok Sabha tickets, but this is all speculation until the central leadership finalises names for the state’s Cabinet in the next few days.
Whether the BJP will keep Vijayvargiya in the state politics or he will be given a chance to contest the Lok Sabha elections, will become clear after the new Cabinet is announced.
Another important question being asked is whether Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who did not contest the Assembly elections but was rated the most influential leader and was one of the contenders for the CM’s post, will fight the Lok Sabha elections or not.
Scindia, who had contested the last Lok Sabha election on the Congress’ ticket from his pocket borough Guna, had lost to the BJP’s KP Yadav. After one year, Scindia and his 20 loyalists had shifted to the BJP, severing his long association with the Congress in March 2020.
As many as 16 Scindia loyalists were given tickets for the Assembly elections and eight of them lost, including Imarti Devi (Dabra), Mahendra Singh Sisodia (Bamori), Suresh Dhakad (Pohari) and Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon (Badnawar).
The Opposition Congress made all possible efforts to weaken Scindia in his bastion, the Gwalior-Chambal region and some of his loyalists even returned to the Congress ahead of the Assembly elections.
He was targeted unanimously by the Opposition for his betrayal of the Congress but it did not convert into results for the grand old party. Although, only 50 per cent of Scindia’s loyalists could win the Assembly elections, the BJP’s overall performance in the Gwalior-Chambal region was enough to prove his politics of autonomy in his bastion.
The BJP has won 18 seats in the region against seven in the 2018 Assembly elections, which will be enough to justify his supporters’ claim of giving him credit for the same.
pd/rad
