As the day progressed in Madhya Pradesh on 25 December, a wave of happiness – albeit selectively – swept through the MLA quarters in Bhopal with the announcement of the new cabinet ministers.
Weeks after winning a thumping majority of 163 seats out of 230 in the state Assembly elections 2023, 28 ministers were sworn in under the newly appointed Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, leading to some celebrations, and some shock. The shocks included the dropping of senior leaders such as nine-time-MLA Gopal Bhargava and ministers from former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cabinet like Bhupendra Singh, Jayant Kumar Malaiya, and Usha Thakur.
The group of ministers includes 18 MLAs are set to assume roles as Cabinet Ministers, including former Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, and former Lok Sabha member Rakesh Singh.
Besides, six MLAs were sworn in as Ministers of State (Independent Charge), and four assumed positions as Ministers of State.
Along with the chief minister and two deputy CMs, the tally of ministers in Madhya Pradesh now stands at 31 against the 35 stipulated posts.
Although the portfolios are yet to be decided, the BJP has established multiple power centres within the party under Mohan Yadav whose chief ministerial regime is expected to be in line with the party's central leaders.
BJP Eyes Lok Sabha in Minister Selection, OBCs, SC-ST in Focus
Eyeing the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the BJP in Madhya Pradesh inducted at least 11 MLAs from the majority OBC community while six from Scheduled Castes and four from Scheduled Tribes were also sworn in.
Besides striking the caste balance, the BJP also inducted five women ministers in the cabinet, including Samaptiya Uikey and Nirmala Bhuriya – both of whom are tribal leaders.
The four rounds of talks between Mohan Yadav, the party's National President JP Nadda, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, before finalising the names of the 28 ministers, indicate centralised control of the government in the run-up to the general elections.
Talking to The Quint, a BJP source said:
“The names were finalised by the top leaders in discussion with the CM and other senior leaders of the state. The party is looking to rally behind regional stalwarts like Vijayvargiya, Rakesh Singh, and Prahlad Patel, among others, for the Lok Sabha elections. Shivraj [Singh Chouhan] ji has already launched his mission to ensure victory in all the 29 parliamentary seats for the BJP. Like the state elections, this too shall be fought with the collective efforts of state leaders under Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
Meanwhile, a senior journalist, who did not wish to be named, said that Mohan Yadav might have less say in the present government – and would mainly be working on the directions of the central leadership.
“The way Mohan Yadav was appointed as the chief minister followed by a long wait and multiple rounds of discussions by the party president and the Home Minister, it seems that the double-engine government will mostly be Delhi’s single-engine pulling the chords and deciding the way forward. The state engine will just follow suit," the journalist said.
Another major challenge for the BJP and Mohan Yadav will be to entice cooperation from those senior leaders who were in the race for the CM post, as well as deciding the future of former CM Chouhan.
Patel, Tomar, Vijayvargiya Knocked in Line, Shivraj's Future Undecided
The BJP fielded seven MPs, including Patel, Tomar, and Rakesh Singh, as part of their collective leadership strategy led by Modi in the MP elections. Experts then opined that the party had opened the race for the CM post, and the move was to counter anti-incumbency stemming in the state from an 18-year rule.
However, the results changed the scenario as the BJP, after winning 163 seats in an election fought under PM Modi's image, decided to give way to the second line of leadership.
The party employed similar tactics in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, by pushing the second-line leadership at the helm of their next tenure.
The BJP also accommodated Scindia loyalists Pradyumna Singh Tomar, Tulsiram Silawat, Aidal Singh Kansana, and Govind Singh Rajput, who helped overthrow the Congress government in 2020.
Vijayvargiya is rumoured for the home ministry portfolio, while Prahlad Patel and Rakesh Singh are also expected to handle significant departments under Mohan Yadav.
Speaking to The Quint, a senior BJP leader said:
"It will be a challenge for both the CM as well as for the senior leaders to maintain coordination. It will be a tough task for Mohan Yadav to balance his cabinet, and it will be an equally challenging task for senior leaders like Vijayvargiya and Patel, who've been shifted from central politics to state politics. Many of them are very senior leaders and were aiming for the CM post. It will be an uphill task for Yadav unless Delhi leaders help smoothen the transition."
While the big guns brought in from Delhi have settled for the moment, Chouhan's future remains undecided.
Chouhan, who was hinted at his departure from the CM post before the polls by the BJP, rallied hard pre- and post-poll to ensure his visibility through the Ladli Behna Yojana and the role played by women voters in the BJP's victory. However, his efforts bore no fruit, and he wasn't repeated as the CM.
Over a fortnight after the declaration of the Assembly election results, Chouhan's future remains undecided.
A senior journalist covering the BJP in the state said, "There's a lot of politics left in Shivraj Singh Chouhan – and he isn't going to go down easily. The party will soon be accommodating him in some senior position; otherwise, their chances in Lok Sabha elections will face significant impact."
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