Nadda speaks to Rajasthan BJP MLAs amid buzz over CM picks for 3 states

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda on Saturday addressed newly elected party MLAs in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, asking them to prepare for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and participate in the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Vatra (developed India pledge march) amid buzz over the appointment of chief ministers in three states, party leaders familiar with the matter said.

Nadda’s virtual meeting with MLAs came before the party-appointed observers will meet legislators in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan to seek views on who the CMs should be. The BJP has appointed a team of observers for each state, headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh for Rajasthan, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar for Madhya Pradesh and tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda for Chhattisgarh.

Legislative party meetings are scheduled to be held in Chhattisgarh on Sunday evening, in Madhya Pradesh on Monday and in Rajasthan on Tuesday. Most of the elected MLAs started arriving in the Chhattisgarh capital Raipur on Saturday. In the evening, Nadda spoke to the MLAs informing them about their duties and objectives and the importance of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, party leaders said.

“Nadda ji in his address to the new MLAs said the BJP is planning a Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in every constituency of Chhattisgarh, in which the local MLAs and leaders will be inducted to create awareness and propagate the policies and programmes of the Modi government,” said one of the newly elected MLAs in Chhattisgarh.

Another MLA said the objective of the meeting was to prepare the BJP for the upcoming parliamentary elections and added that the CM candidate was not discussed at the meeting. In Rajasthan, Nadda repeated the message he gave in Chhattisgarh and urged the newly elected MLAs to visit every home to deliver the message of the Prime Minister.

In Chhattisgarh, the party is likely to choose between an OBC or a tribal face with Raman Singh, CM thrice from 2003 to 2018, almost ruled out. OBCs account for around 45% and tribals are 32% of the state’s population.

Among the front runners for the CM post are young OBC leader OP Chaudhary , party president and OBC leader Arun Sao, Vishnu Deo Sai , Ram Vichar Netam, Lata Usendi and two parliamentarians—Renuka Singh and Gomti Sai—both resigned as MPs on Friday.

“There is discipline in BJP and we will be go by the decision of the senior leaders as I am just a small worker of the party,” Chaudhary said to reporters.

Sao told reporters the party’s three central observers—Union ministers Arjun Munda and Sarbananda Sonowal, and general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam—will be present at Sunday’s meeting. The party’s Chhattisgarh in-charge Om Mathur, Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya and party co-in-charge for the state Nitin Nabin will also be present, he added.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh is expected to reach Jaipur on Tuesday as BJP leaders cited his prior appointments in New Delhi and Lucknow as reasons for the delay. “The President is going to Lucknow on Monday and Rajnath ji will be there. After that he will come here,” said a senior BJP leader. On Friday, Singh, BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde and Rajya Sabha MP Saroj Pande were appointed central observers by the party. State BJP president CP Joshi said on Saturday that the meeting of MLAs will be held at the earliest.

“The BJP MLAs have been asked to reach Jaipur by Sunday evening,” he said.

As the wait gets longer, several names are doing the rounds such as those of Union minister Ashwini Vaishnav, former CM Vasundhara Raje, Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, former Lok Sabha member Balaknath, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, senior leader Om Prakash Mathur and former organisation secretary Prakash Sharma.

Rajasthan caretaker chief minister Ashok Gehlot took a swipe at the delay in naming a CM by the BJP and said, “There is no discipline in this party. If the Congress had done this, they would have levelled allegations against us,” he told the media. Countering Gehlot, Joshi said, “BJP has a strong leadership and a strong organisation. Gehlot does not need to worry about that.”

In Madhya Pradesh, senior party leaders said that outgoing chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is willing to accept Narendra Singh Tomar as CM. However, another senior leader and nine-time MLA, Gopal Bhargava, is said to be have expressed his resentment over the probable choice of Tomar.

Another chief minister probable and former Union minister Prahlad Patel has met Chouhan a few times apart from meeting Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday. “It appears that even senior party leaders don’t know who the CM will be. Everyone is trying,” said a senior BJP leader in Bhopal.

Many of the top BJP leaders still believe that the party would rely on Chouhan at helm of the state before the Lok Sabha polls. “Nobody knows the party and the state bureaucracy better than him. Not having him as CM at the time of Lok Sabha polls may create unnecessary hiccups,” a senior state BJP leader aware of the developments said.

A third senior BJP leader in Bhopal said for the first time there is discussion on inducting two deputy chief ministers like in UP. BJP MLA and tribal leader Sampatiya Uike said, “We will agree with the party high command decision.”

Outgoing minister Om Prakash Dhurve said, “In the new cabinet, tribal leaders will get a good opportunity to work for the welfare of tribals and others.”