New Delhi: Ahead of the crucial assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh scheduled later this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to embark on its ‘Jan Ashirwad’ Yatra — a public outreach campaign to showcase the government’s achievements.
But unlike previous elections, when Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan led the yatra solo, this time he will be joined by other senior leaders, party sources told ThePrint.
The ‘Jan Ashirwad’ Yatra, which began on 14 July in the last assembly elections, was a one-man show by Chouhan. A senior central BJP leader requesting anonymity said Chouhan had raised the issue of organising the yatra and leading it during the meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, but did not get a green signal.
“Chouhan leading the yatra was different earlier. This time round the party does not want to focus on any single leader as part of its campaign. Hence, earlier there was discussion on whether to hold his yatra and if the name should be the same. It was then decided that the yatra will continue to have the same name, but rather than the chief minister leading it, a group of leaders on a rotation basis will lead it to different parts of the state and will converge in Bhopal,” said the BJP leader.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that Chouhan was not happy with the changes and had hoped that he would be able to lead the yatra as he has done in the past.
“He had raised the matter during the meeting (with Shah), but he wasn’t given the go-ahead to lead it alone. The only solace is that in the regular campaign, his presence will not be reduced (apart from the yatra),” said a party functionary from Madhya Pradesh.
The BJP emerged as the second-largest party in the 2018 elections. However, it managed to form the government in March 2020 after Jyotiraditya Scindia, now a Union minister, defected to the BJP with 22 Congress MLAs.
“There is bound to be a certain anti-incumbency for the government and the chief minister. People also get tired and bored of seeing the same face and want change. Though he has not been replaced but through this yatra, the party does not want to focus on a single face,” said the senior BJP leader quoted earlier.
The BJP considers ‘Jan Ashirvaad’ an important yatra as it is able to not only reach every assembly segment but is also used to highlight the achievements of the party and the government.
According to the BJP leader, the plan that is being worked upon is that along with Chouhan, some big leaders, including Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Jyotiraditya Scindia, party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, state president V.D. Sharma, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Narottam Mishra, among others, should start the yatra from different places. Each yatra will aim to cover at least 40 assembly seats to ensure they are able to reach out to all 230.
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‘Focus on Modi’s brand appeal’
Explaining the rationale behind having multiple leaders lead the yatra, the central BJP leader said that while the party has not changed the chief minister, it has also not made any announcement that he will be the face of the party.
According to the leader, the campaign will also focus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brand appeal, apart from highlighting the achievements of the state government.
“Even the election songs are concentrating more on PM Modi and his appeal. For instance, one of the songs says ‘MP ke mann me Modi’ (Modi is in the heart of MP).” the leader said.
Further, the leader also highlighted that by having all the leaders undertake the yatra, “we will be able to put an end to factionalism too. All the leaders will be given similar importance and, hence, no space for anyone getting upset”.
During an earlier meeting with the top brass of the state, Amit Shah had also emphasised that the elections will be fought unitedly and asked the various “power centres” to put their egos aside and work for the party.
Sources in the state BJP said an internal survey found that the performance of 40 percent of sitting BJP MLAs was not up to the mark — which could hamper their chances of getting a ticket to contest the assembly elections to be held later this year.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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