New Delhi: Veteran BJP leader, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who served four terms as Madhya Pradesh chief minister before the party appointed Mohan Yadav as his successor after the 2023 assembly polls, is on a new mission — to make the lotus bloom in the southern states that have so far not given space to the BJP.
In the last 15 days, Chouhan has made the rounds of Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where he has visited temples, sometimes accompanied by his wife Sadhna.
A leader from the Other Backward Classes (OBC), Chouhan is considered a moderate face of the BJP.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior BJP leader said the “party needs senior leaders to campaign in south India where the focus is on enhancing seats”.
“It’s not just the PM who is devoting his time to achieve this target, Shivraj, too, is doing so. He is an OBC leader and the south has a huge OBC population,” said the leader, admitting that “the BJP has not cut much ice in southern politics through hard Hindutva such as the Bajrang Bali campaign in Karnataka or love jihad politics in Kerala”.
“Temples are the entry point to southern politics and so Shivraj is visiting temples first. His moderate face and track record of governance make him a good choice to galvanise the BJP campaign in southern states. For north India, the party doesn’t need more faces and the PM’s popularity is enough,” the leader added.
Chouhan had himself given indications of taking up another role in the party after he lost the chief ministership.
Before the Madhya Pradesh CM was announced last month, he told the media that he would not visit Delhi and would “prefer to die rather than asking for any post for himself”.
He did, however, travel to the Capital later after BJP president J.P. Nadda called him to discuss his role in the party.
Rajneesh Aggarwal, BJP’s Madhya Pradesh secretary, told ThePrint that “the party wanted to use the vast experience of the former CM and that is why the leadership decided to employ him in south India”.
Another leader from the central leadership of the party pointed out that “Shivraj has a previous connection with south India”.
“He had campaigned ahead of the Telangana election and spent considerable time in Kerala in the last assembly election. He also visits temples in the south frequently and is well versed with the party cadre and demography there.”
“Since his role has been yet been decided in the north or whether he will be fielded to contest the Lok Sabha polls, he has been posted on the southern front where more deployment is needed,” he told ThePrint.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh account for 81 seats that have been eluding the BJP in the last three Lok Sabha elections. Additionally, Kerala is the only state among the three where the party has never won a Lok Sabha seat. In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the BJP won one and two seats, respectively, in 2014 but drew a blank in 2019.
In the previous Lok Sabha poll, the BJP won four seats in Telangana.
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Chouhan’s southern sojourn
Chouhan first landed in Telangana on 9 January, and stayed for two days, participating in programmes of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in Hyderabad, Karimnagar and Warangal.
He also visited the residence of a BJP worker in Konda taluka and met his family members, accompanied by BJP national general secretary Bandi Sanjay.
The former MP CM was reported to have cooked a special local dish of Karimnagar with BJP workers. A Lok Sabha seat, Karimnagar is held by Bandi Sanjay, BJP’s former Telangana chief.
Chouhan’s next visit was to Kerala on 18 and 19 January, where he participated in programmes organised in Kochi, Kottayam and Pala, including cleanliness drives in temples and parliamentary constituency meetings.
He visited philosopher Adi Sankaracharya’s birthplace Kaladi and highlighted his Madhya Pradesh connection — the state is believed to be the place where the philosopher attained enlightenment.
During the tour, the former CM also visited a Ram temple part of ‘Nalambalam (four Hindu temples in Kerala)’ and worshipped at the famous Ettumanoor Mahadev Temple near Kottayam.
In Pala, he addressed meetings and participated in programmes of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra. Chouhan’s Kerala itinerary also included late party leader and former PM A.B. Vajpayee’s favourite place Kumarakom.
Speaking to ThePrint, Kerala BJP general secretary George Kurian said “Shivraj is simple and away from controversy and his governance record has appeal for the people of the state. Adi Sankaracharya too has a deep connection with Madhya Pradesh”.
“The BJP is concentrating on six-seven Lok Sabha seats in 2024 and Kottayam, which Shivraj visited, is one of these,” he said.
Earlier this week, on Wednesday, Shivraj was started a three-day tour of Tamil Nadu.
He visited Siddheshwari Peeth in Courtallam with his wife and participated in various outreach programmes organised in Madurai, Tenkasi and Kanniyakumari. These are the Lok Sabha constituencies that the BJP, according to sources, has tasked its state unit to concentrate on. The party had won Kanniyakumari in the 2014 general election.
While addressing party workers in the state, Chouhan said: “The people of the state are fed up of the (ruling) DMK and (rival) AIADMK. The people want a BJP government here and we have fixed a target of winning 400 seats in the Lok Sabha. I am happy that our Tamil Nadu organisation has worked hard and made the unit robust here, and we will get a good victory in the state in the upcoming polls.”
‘Not rejected’
Since losing the CM’s chair, Chouhan has been sending the signal that his popularity is intact by meeting beneficiaries of the Ladli Behna Yojana, launched by him as CM, at regular intervals at his residence.
He was also spotted in Orchha, which is said to be “Madhya Pradesh’s Ayodhya”, while the PM was inaugurating the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya.
The former CM’s two recent statements have become a talking point in Madhya Pradesh.
In his assembly constituency of Budhni this month, Chouhan spoke about not being able to become CM.
“There must be some bigger objective. Kabhi rajtilak hote hote vanvaas ho jaata hai (sometimes one goes into exile before coronation). This happens only to fulfil some purpose but don’t worry, my life is for my sisters, daughters and the public. I have come to this earth to take away the pain from your life,” he told the media.
Then again this month, while participating in a programme in Pune, he said he was a “former chief minister and not rejected chief minister”.
“Rejected are those who lose election under chief ministership. I won with people’s support and people still love such a person. Even after I quit the post, people are shouting for me and calling out mama (uncle, as Chouhan is popularly known). Wherever I go, the love of the people is my real treasure,” he said.
Chouhan had in 2018, after the Madhya Pradesh assembly poll led to a hung assembly and the Congress cobbled up a government, been given the task of working on the BJP’s membership drive, which he was reported to have successfully completed by enhancing the party membership to 18 crore.
A former Madhya Pradesh minister known to be close to Chouhan told ThePrint: “Since the formation of a new government in the state, Shivraj has had a limited role to play. But since he was popular due to his long innings and women-oriented welfare politics, it seems the party didn’t want to create a parallel power centre.”
“So, he has been asked to spend more time in the south. He can also be asked to fight the Lok Sabha polls, but the call has to be taken by Delhi,” said the former minister.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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