A senior BJP leader told ThePrint that in picking Yadav for the CM’s post, the BJP had not only gone for a generational shift, but at the same time given a “big” message to the Yadav community across the country ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with the Opposition making its demand for a caste census more aggressive.
“You have to see Mohan Yadav’s appointment as part of the social engineering and the generational shift the BJP is trying to achieve. Not only is Yadav relatively younger in age compared to Shivraj [Chouhan is 64 while Yadav is 58], but he also comes from the OBC community. A PhD holder, he represents the aspirations of the community,” said the leader.
“Names of Prahlad Patel [Union minister of state for Food Processing Industries & Jal Shakti] and [MLA and former Union cabinet minister] Narendra Singh Tomar were also doing the rounds [as CM picks]”, said a second party leader, but added, “Patel is seen more as a central leader rather than being highly active in state politics. And Tomar has been given the responsibility of the [assembly] speaker”.
The BJP has also gone for two deputy chief ministers in MP — Jagdish Devda, a Dalit, and Rajendra Shukla, a Brahmin. At the heart of this “experiment” lies the BJP’s aim for “caste balancing” and ensuring greater efficiency through “improved administration”, said BJP leaders.
According to party sources, one of the reasons behind the BJP’s choice of CM and deputy CMs is the increasing influence of new outfits such as the Bhim Army and Jan Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS) among the Dalit and tribal populations of Madhya Pradesh, especially ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
The three leaders chosen by the BJP as CM and deputy CMs help in not only strengthening the caste equations in Madhya Pradesh, but also provide a “vital mix of experience”.
The system of having multiple deputies to aid chief ministers started with Uttar Pradesh, the sources added.
“The central leadership started with this experiment from Uttar Pradesh and then Chhattisgarh, where the party chose two deputy chief ministers [Vijay Sharma and Arun Sao] to assist the Chief Minister [Vishnu Deo Sai]. With a tribal leader being given the reign of the state in Chhattisgarh, where 32 percent of the population is from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community, in Madhya Pradesh — where OBCs constitute over 50 percent of the population, the party decided to continue with an OBC CM but, from a different sub-caste [Chouhan is from the Kiran sub-caste],” said the second party leader.
Officially, however, the party is terming its choice of leadership for the MP government an example of its motto of “sabka saath, sabka vokas“.
“BJP is a party that works on the principal of ‘sabka saath, sabka vishwas, aur sabka vikas‘. Moving in this direction it is a constant endeavour to give representation to as many communities, ensuring no one is left behind. Keeping these principals in mind, decisions are taken as per the need arises,” said BJP state secretary Rajneesh Aggarwal told ThePrint.
Also read: Son of a tea-bhajiya seller, ex-ABVP activist, BJP minister — meet Mohan Yadav, the next chief minister of MP
Caste outreach
BJP leaders ThePrint spoke to said the selection of CM and deputy CMs was done keeping the 2024 parliamentary elections in mind.
Yadav belongs to the dominant OBC community, and his proximity to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — the ideological fountainhead of the BJP — is one of the factors that party leaders said helped him secure the CM’s position.
In opting for Yadav, the BJP has also continued the tradition of fielding OBC Chief Ministers in the state — past BJP CMs like Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur and Chouhanwere all from the OBC community.
“He belongs to the Malwa region [of Madhya Pradesh] from where BJP’s chief ministers of the ’70s and ’80s — including Sunder Lal Patwa and Kailash Joshi — hailed from. From 2003 onwards there was a shift, as Uma Bharti belonged to Bundelkhand and Chouhan from Bhopal region,” said the first leader quoted above.
While Yadav is a three-time MLA, he will be assisted by an experienced Devda who has served as an MLA for seven terms. He is a tall leader representing the Dalit community in the state.
According to senior BJP leaders, the appointment of Shukla as the second deputy CM has also been made keeping in mind the caste balance — to give a Brahmin leader representation from the Vindhyachal region in the state cabinet. Politics in Vindhyachal is said to be dominated by Brahmins.
A leader from the BJP’s MP unit pointed out that Brahmins not only influence politics in the Vindhyachal region but also several seats in Mahakaushal and Bundelkhand. In 2019, while the BJP won 28 of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP, Chhindwara which lies in the Mahakaushal region remained outside the party’s grasp.
“Shukla belongs to the Vindh region where the BJP did exceedingly well in 2018 and 2023 [assembly elections]. His selection was strengthened by the fact that Narottam Mishra [another Brahmin face] lost his Datia seat. Upper castes comprise approximately 10-12 percent of the population in Madhya Pradesh,” said a third BJP leader.
Of the 30 assembly seats in the region, the BJP won 27 in the elections held last month. In the 2018 polls, it had won 25 of the seats. Shukla himself won three of his five terms as MLA by defeating the BSP’s Dalit candidate in the region and twice by defeating the Congress’s Brahmin candidate.
In 2020, however, when the BJP formed government in MP — following defection by a section of Congress MLAs leading to the fall of the Kamal Nath government — the BJP had not included Shukla in the cabinet.
According to party sources, there was resentment amongst BJP loyalists in the Vindhyachal region over the alleged lack of adequate representation of the area in the state cabinet, especially at a time when the region has overwhelmingly supported the BJP. This led the BJP to include Shukla as a minister in the state cabinet merely three months ahead of the assembly elections.
With the overwhelming support from the Brahmin-dominated Vindhya region, which often turns into a battle of Brahmins versus Dalits, Shukla’s victory in the region was considered crucial, solidifying his place in the cabinet.
Meanwhile, Devda’s appointment is being considered as a move to consolidate the Schedule Caste (SC) votes which dominate the electorate in the Malwa region. After Thaverchand Ghelot, a prominent SC leader and Rajya Sabha MP from Nagda in Ujjain, was made the governor of Karnataka in July 2021, the BJP has been seeking an SC face in MP.
Devda turned out to be the most prominent, although perceived to be close to former CM Chouhan.
“The SC community to which Devda belongs, is one of the core SC communities that dominate the Malwa region,” said a second state BJP leader. There are 35 seats reserved for SCs in the state.
According to the second party leader quoted above, currently, the BJP gets 30-35 percent of SC/ST votes in the state, and the target is to reach 75 percent.
Ahead of the assembly elections, the BJP has rolled out an 18-day long ‘Social Harmony Yatra’ or Sant Shiromani Ravidas Ji Samrasta Yatra, which culminated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone for a temple and museum dedicated to the Dalit icon in Sagar district.
It was the second mass event targeted at the SC/Dalit electorate organised by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh this year after a mahakumbh held in Gwalior on the birth anniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar in April.
There are 35 reserved seats for the Schedule Caste in MP of which the BJP had won 28 in 2013, but could only retain 17 in 2018. But in 2023, the BJP improved upon its performance and won 26 out of the 35 SC seats in the state.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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