As the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election campaign winds down, the outward manifestations of the BJP’s campaign — rallies, speeches, and governance record — have been outweighed by the party’s behind-the-scenes management of its cadre and their morale, which had been trailing in the months leading up to the polls.
Ever since the BJP’s defeat in the Karnataka Assembly polls in May this year, it was said that Madhya Pradesh would also go the same way. Apart from anti-incumbency sentiments, given 18 years of BJP rule in M.P., there was also the fact that, just like in Karnataka, the BJP government had a constructed rather than an elected majority, giving the moral high ground to the Opposition Congress.
The challenges within
For the BJP therefore, the challenges going into the polls have been as much within as without, as much its own cadre and their depleting morale as the Congress.
The BJP high command, therefore, decided to field seven MPs — including three Union Ministers — in these Assembly polls. BJP sources said that the move was made in order to outweigh the anti-incumbency feelings against Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan within the party itself, even more than among the electorate. “There was a feeling that 18 years is a long time. The administration run by him was entrenched, with no scope for anyone else to enter the system, and government officials had worked out their equations with Bhopal to an extent that they were unresponsive towards the people, thinking they cannot be brought to account,” said a senior leader of the BJP’s State unit.
Also read | Congress ‘opposed Mandal Commission report’, says Amit Shah
More importantly, Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s three day stay in Madhya Pradesh, between October 28 and 31 — when he met rebel candidates, persuading some to withdraw their candidature, and giving pep talks to party workers or karyakartas — was an effort in ensuring that the Karnataka mistakes are not repeated in Madhya Pradesh.
Shah’s pep talk
“Amit Shah ji met with all 10 sambhags or divisions of the party, including district-level office-bearers, in-charges, co-ordinators, disgruntled elements, and others during this period at least six or seven times,” a source said. In fact, Mr. Shah changed his schedule around when he realised that the situation in Jabalpur — where viral videos depicted the very vocal disgruntlement among party workers — required more time.
“The main message of the pep talk to party workers was a clear understanding that, whatever may be their disgruntlement with the State unit or the party’s government in Madhya Pradesh, the alternative, a Congress government, was even more unpalatable. That achieving anything is only possible when the party remains in power, otherwise, one needs only recall their situation under one year of Congress rule in 2018-19,” said a source. “The fact that a collective leadership had been projected by the BJP high command also demonstrated that the party was aware of the reasons for the workers’ disgruntlement,” added the source.
Mr. Shah also issued specific talking points on how to handle tough seats, focus on urban tribal areas, and emphasise the “anti-Ram Mandir” and “anti-Mahakal Lok” stance of the Congress.
The results of these polls will be declared on December 3, and will reveal not just what worked for the voter, but also behind the scenes, as far as BJP is concerned.
