Free will, dissent, defiance – signs of democracy returning to BJP

Union Minister of Rural Development and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan boards the Shatabdi Express en route to Bhopal from New Delhi | ANI

The past decade has witnessed a debate on the growing centralisation of power and high commandism in the Bharatiya Janata Party. Many saw it as the BJP’s Congressification. Chief ministers were dumped and changed almost on whims. So were ministers and party office-bearers. Consultations and deliberations became antonyms of bold and decisive. Smart BJP leaders soon discovered the art of surviving and thriving – bowed heads, downcast eyes, folded hands, bent spines, and sealed lips that opened only to applaud Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah.

After the Lok Sabha election results on 4 June, winds of change have started blowing in the ruling party. Take, for instance, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s train journey from New Delhi to Bhopal after his induction into the Union cabinet as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Big, enthusiastic crowds of BJP workers, people welcoming him at railway stations, and the roadshow in Bhopal were all part of a loud statement by Chouhan.

Modi and Shah had sidelined him after he had delivered a stupendous victory to the BJP in the 2023 MP assembly election. His declaration to stay put in Bhopal and keep the doors of ‘Mama ka Ghar’ open for all had alarm bells ringing in Delhi. He had to be kept out of Bhopal and Madhya Pradesh. The BJP high command got Chouhan to contest the Lok Sabha election from Vidisha. His win by over eight lakh votes stamped his popularity, especially when the people were dismayed by PM Modi’s much-reduced victory margin in Varanasi.

Winds of change within BJP

There was no way Shivraj Chouhan, who was unfairly denied CM-ship, could have been kept out of the Union Cabinet. A leader who ruled a state for about 17 years deserved to be in the Cabinet Committee on Security. The PM allotted him agriculture and rural development portfolios. But that also came as a feather in the ex-CM’s cap. It acknowledged how he had transformed agriculture in MP.

It was in this backdrop that Chouhan’s train journey drew national attention. It was a show of his popularity. Modi used to do it as Gujarat CM to send a message to the party’s rank and file across the country. Since Modi-Shah came to the Centre, no other party leader would dare flex their muscles by way of showing off their mass appeal. Those with such appeal – from Chouhan to Vasundhara Raje, Raman Singh, Devendra Fadnavis, and BS Yediyurappa, among others – were cut to size. It is against this backdrop that one heard the whistle of change from Chouhan’s train. It reminded the people of the BJP of yesteryears, where a leader could show off their popularity to party bosses and earn their respect and appreciation. Chouhan’s son Kartikeya’s remark that the entire Delhi “bows down” before his father might reflect a son’s inflated pride. It, however, does have an element of truth in the sense that everyone in the corridors of power is keenly observing every move by Chouhan.

Let me cite another instance indicating winds of change in the BJP. It pertains to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which comes under the administrative control of the road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari. Amid mounting criticism of the Modi government over the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak case, Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP leader Vijay Sinha sought to link Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav with it. Sinha alleged in a press conference that Tejashwi’s personal secretary had booked a room for the paper leak accused at an NHAI guest house.

Before the BJP leader’s allegation could gain steam, the NHAI quickly issued a statement: “NHAI would like to clarify that the NHAI does not have any guest house facility in Patna.” It took the sting out of the Bihar deputy CM’s claims.

Speaking of Gadkari, at the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting where Modi was chosen as its leader, three BJP leaders were sitting with the PM and the party’s alliance partners on the dais—president JP Nadda, home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh. Gadkari was made to sit with MPs and other ministers below. As the BJP president, Nadda belonged there. But what about Shah and Singh? If they were on the dais as former BJP presidents, why was Nitin Gadkari not invited to sit there? As it were, BJP insiders tell me, he was not even supposed to be in the Union Cabinet. PM Modi, say insiders, was reluctant to induct him.

The BJP high command wanted Gadkari to move to Maharashtra where the party is in a precarious position. The Sangh, however, was said to have put its foot down and ensured Gadkari’s induction into the Cabinet with the same portfolio. The NHAI’s press statement rebutting the Bihar deputy CM’s claim showed its refusal to get dragged into the unsavoury NEET paper leak controversy.

Look at what’s happening in states

In Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis declared his intent to resign at a press conference. He said that he was going to request the central leadership to free him from his responsibility in the government so that he could devote his time fully to strengthening the BJP. Now these are not decisions BJP leaders are supposed to take for themselves – not in the past decade. And to declare them publicly even before approaching the high command? One can argue that Fadnavis was always like that. He had earlier publicly declared his reluctance to join the Eknath Shinde-led government.

If you think that a few top BJP leaders speaking their minds and exercising their free will does not really signify a return to democracy within the party, look at what’s happening in states. In Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, an Amit Shah confidant, is facing dissent within his party. It’s a result of Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi’s victory from Jorhat, which happened despite the CM and his team making it a prestige battle. The outcome, said BJP MLA Mrinal Saikia, proved that “money, big publicity, overdose of leaders and arrogant speeches” do not always help win elections.

As Sarma angrily reacted to Saikia congratulating Gogoi, another BJP MLA and former state BJP chief, Siddhartha Bhattacharya, also joined in applauding Gogoi and calling his victory his ‘political coronation.’ What’s interesting is that the BJP has chosen to remain silent. No action has been initiated against these MLAs. Former West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh has been vocally questioning the party leadership’s decision to shift him and other leaders from winning constituencies to challenging ones, leading to their defeat.

Knives are out between two BJP leaders from western Uttar Pradesh—former Union minister Sanjeev Baliyan and ex-MLA Sangeet Som—following the former’s defeat in the Lok Sabha election. Baliyan has now written to Shah, demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into Som’s corruption allegations against him. The high command is watching their fight helplessly.

There are similar developments in almost every state. Look closely at the BJP leaders’ words and actions—the signs of change are all there to see. The high command may remain powerful but it no longer evokes fear and awe the way it did until a few weeks back. What had started as an aberration after the ticket distribution exercise—dissent and rebellion by those left out—in the run-up to the general elections is becoming routine post-polls. Those pushed aside during the Modi-Shah regime are beginning to find their feet and voice. And these are early days yet. The BJP must welcome these developments. The party is beginning to rediscover its old strength—that is, internal democracy, a trait that led to the rise of leaders like Modi and Shah.

DK Singh is Political Editor at ThePrint. He tweets @dksingh73. Views are personal.

(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)