Opinion

Choosing chief ministers: Maximising Modi BJP



Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. In the aftermath of state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, BJP has no dearth of paternity claims in aspiring chief ministers. This includes outgoing CMs like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and veterans like Vasundhara Raje. As the BJP leadership decides whom to appoint – Congress has, more conservatively, selected state unit president Revanth Reddy as Telangana CM – questions regarding the reasoning used for selection are once again doing the rounds. None of the three states where BJP has scored impressive wins went into polls with a chief ministerial candidate. The party did not need one, since the BJP voter voted for Team Narendra Modi.

The traditional aspect of ‘rewarding’ key players has become less of an SOP since a relatively unknown outside Gorakhpur was selected ex-post by BJP as Uttar Pradesh CM in 2017. In effect, BJP’s choice of CMs has been about signalling – aligned to both the broader aspect of firming up Brand Modi BJP, as well as the narrower tinkerings of identity politics. Thus, the ‘regulation tailoring’ along caste/tribal lines could come into play in the three heartland states. Keeping not just 2024 in mind but well beyond is the continued emphasis on BJP establishing itself as an avant-garde – advanced guard – organisation, constantly replenishing its stocks and, in contrast to the Not-So-Grand Old Party, rejecting elements of the ancien regime.

That is the idea of signalling. But selecting CMs – and a more democratic intra-party selection from the state level could be considered – is about maximising the efficacy of execution of the schemes and policies of a Modi administration in its ‘state branches’. For that purpose, choosing CMs, even from a central ministerial pool, is an exercise of culling, sowing and reaping for continued bumper crops.



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